site.btaMediation Procedures Save People Time and Money, Justice Minister Says

Justice Minister Georgi Georgiev commented Saturday on the Ministry's proposal for a mandatory information meeting to explain the benefits of dispute resolution through mediation in 12 groups of civil and commercial cases. He added that people who opt for mediation rather than the continuation of litigation resolve disputes quickier and save money.

He told the Bulgarian News Agency here that, according to statistics, more than 30% of disputes that end in mediation and are not heard by a court are related to the division of the use of co-owned property, monetary claims arising from co-ownership, partition proceedings, divorce, the exercise of parental rights and measures for personal relations with the grandparents, maintenance, wages or compensation under labour relations, monetary or non-monetary claims in civil disputes and commercial disputes.

The proposals have been published for public consultation as amendments to the Code of Civil Procedure (CCP) and the Mediation Act.

It is in these cases that the draft law proposes that the court, at its discretion, should oblige the parties to participate in an information meeting about the mediation procedure. This would motivate them to opt for mediation rather than the continuation of litigation to resolve the dispute quickier. The amendments provide for the return of 75% of the State fee paid to the plaintiff when the court approves an agreement in a mediation procedure, Georgiev said.

There are currently 4934 mediators registered in the Ministry of Justice's register, he said. Each of them meets the requirements under the Mediation Act - has undergone specialised training by a mediator training organisation, which is also registered with the Ministry of Justice, has passed a test to verify acquired knowledge, including practical skills for conducting a mediation procedure.

For the group of court mediators, special requirements were already regulated in the Mediation Act in 2023. Namely, that a mediator at a judicial mediation centre should be a person with a legal education who has undergone additional selection and specialised training in accordance with the procedure set out in the regulations of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC). These are the mediators who, at the court's discretion, as proposed by the new amendments to the CCP and the Mediation Act, are assigned to conduct the information meeting with the parties whose dispute has already been litigated. This meeting is held in the court mediation centres of the courts, Georgiev said.

One of the motives of the Ministry of Justice is to increase the credibility of mediation as a voluntary way to resolve legal disputes. The texts are in line with the Constitutional Court's decision last year and comply with the European Commission's requirements. They also implement a commitment of the country set out in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

The costs of the information meeting and of the mediation procedure, with a total duration of up to 3 hours, will be paid from the court's budget in accordance with the regulations laid down in the Mediation Act. Mediators at the court mediation centres who have received training retain their rights.

An information meeting will not be held if mediation is excluded for this type of disputes by law, if there is convincing evidence of violence by a litigant, if the defendant admits the claim and in other explicitly listed hypotheses, the Ministry said.