Commercial mediation is an increasingly used form of dispute resolution. The new civil procedure, which is only a few months old, is also conducive to its application and is based on amicable methods of dispute resolution during the so-called preparatory meeting, which is a new element of the classic court process.
The flexibility of the mediation procedure, the cost and time efficiency of this form of mediation among the available alternative methods of conflict resolution, makes it increasingly common for entrepreneurs to decide on mediation even before their case goes to court.
Such economic mediation – private – not only gives the parties full confidentiality regarding the dispute resolution process, but also involves the parties directly in the process of seeking creative solutions. The settlement reached in mediation is therefore a joint achievement of the parties acting with the participation of a professional mediator who actively supports the parties in this process.
Online dispute resolution,
applicable also in the court
Mediations can also take place online, which is used not only in conditions of forced social isolation caused by the epidemic, but also in situations where the parties for some reason, even logistical, cannot meet in one place.
Besides, the online form is also commonly used in arbitration, where witnesses or parties can be questioned using instant messaging.
This form will also be used by courts in Poland, as envisaged by the legislator in the last part of the “anti-covid” regulations, indicating that:
during the period of an epidemic or a state of epidemic danger and within one year of the cancellation of the last one, a hearing or an open meeting shall be held using technical devices enabling them to be conducted at a distance with simultaneous transmission of video and sound (…) unless holding a hearing or an open meeting without the use of the above devices will not cause an undue threat to the health of persons participating in it (art. 15 zzs’ of the Act on special arrangements for the prevention, prevention and combating of COVID-19, other infectious diseases and crisis situations).
Technical issues
Choosing the right communicator to conduct online mediation is the task of the mediator and the mediation centre offering such mediation. The only requirement is to ensure the confidentiality of the process as well as the possibility to hold joint and individual meetings with each of the parties.
This requires the use of a communicator providing the possibility of creating virtual rooms (2 or 3 at the same time), where the parties can talk individually with the mediator and meet all participants of the mediation in joint sessions.
Details concerning the use of a particular communicator as well as the conditions for conducting mediation in general are regulated in the mediation agreement concluded by the parties with the mediator or mediation centre.
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