Human Dynamics has been awarded a project to enhance in–court and out-of-court mediation in the Croatian Ministry of Justice. The Human Dynamics Team is made up of leading mediation experts demonstrating life long careers in introducing and establishing mediation frameworks in their respective home countries. The project will kick off in January 2008, running for a period of 23 months
The project “Enhancement of mediation as an alternative to court-based dispute settlement (ADR) in Croatia” has been designed to support the efforts to develop the mediation system in Croatia. In line with the Strategy for the Reform of the Judiciary and the Strategy for the development of ADR defined by the Croatian Ministry of Justice, the project contributes to reducing court backlog and improving access to justice.
More particularly, the project will seek to reach the following objectives:
- Improving the legal framework for the development of mediation in Croatia: The project will provide assistance for revising the existing legal acts on mediation, but will also facilitate the access to mediation through the definition of standard contractual clauses establishing mediation preferably to court-based settlement for dispute resolution in civil and commercial contracts.
- Improving the structural framework for the functioning of in-court and out-of-courts mediation centres: The project will seek to reinforce the system for mediation both in-courts and out-of-courts by establishing mechanisms for the functioning of in-court mediation centres (following the model developed in the pilot courts), improving the functioning of out-of-court mediation centres and establishing a national register for mediators. These structures will be overlooked by a monitoring unit ensuring the proper application of the principles defined.
- Developing a training strategy to train trainers and conduct basic and advanced training sessions: The project will design a curriculum for a Train the Trainer seminar building on existing experiences in Croatia and bringing in the experiences from other EU Member states.
- Disseminating information about mediation to increase public interest: A coherent communication strategy will be adopted in close cooperation with all stakeholders involved. A national website on mediation will be created to facilitate access to information about mediation in Croatia.