Family mediation is a form of resolving by mutual agreement the disputes that arise within family relationships — over the way of life, contact with children, maintenance or property matters. In Georgia the process is regulated by the Law on Mediation: Article 1 defines the scope of the law, Article 2 its basic concepts, and Article 3 the principles on which mediation rests. On this page we explain how these foundations operate in the context of a family dispute and what family members should know before starting the process.
The Scope of the Law and the Types of Mediation (Article 1)
The Law on Mediation was adopted to encourage the alternative resolution of disputes and determines the principles of conducting mediation, the rules of organisation and operation of the professional association of mediators, the powers of a mediator, and the rules of recognition and enforcement of international mediation settlements. The law applies to private mediation conducted on the basis of an agreement on mediation, and to court mediation defined by the Civil Procedure Code. The law also contains special exclusions: it does not apply to notarial mediation, to mediation provided for by the Code of Juvenile Justice, or to the mediation of collective disputes provided for by the Labour Code. For a family dispute this means that the general regime of mediation applies: private mediation starts by agreement of the parties, while court mediation proceeds in the manner established by the Civil Procedure Code — after a claim has been filed with the court and the court has transferred the case to a mediator.
The Basic Concepts — Who Is Who in Mediation (Article 2)
Article 2 defines the circle of participants. Mediation is a process, whatever its name, by means of which two or more parties, with the assistance of a mediator, attempt to end a dispute by mutual agreement — regardless of whether the process was started at the parties’ initiative or on a basis and in a manner provided for by law. Private mediation is conducted at the initiative of the parties, on the basis of an agreement on mediation, without the transfer of the case by a court; court mediation takes place after a claim is filed with the court, where the court transfers the case to a mediator. The participants in mediation are the mediator, the parties, their representatives and a third party; a party may be a natural person, a legal person or an organisation without legal personality. A third party is a person who is not a party and who takes part in the process under the agreement on mediation or in cases provided for by law; the agreement on mediation is the parties’ written agreement to apply for mediation when a dispute arises between them. The mediator is a natural person registered in the unified registry of mediators who agrees to conduct mediation, whatever his or her status and manner of election or appointment. The unified registry is maintained by the Association of Mediators of Georgia — a legal entity of public law created on the basis of this law — and the registry is the common list of the Association’s members. The outcome of the process is recorded in a mediation settlement — a written document whose performance is mandatory.