Mediation in Lithuanian Law and Recent Developments of Family Mediation in Lithuania Welcome Goal and scope of the presentation English language © Assoc. prof. dr. Natalija Kaminskienė CEDR accredited mediator Mykolas Romeris University (Lithuania) January 24, 2019

The starting points for ADR (mediation) in Lithuania relatively short history of peaceful settlement in Lithuanian courts litigious society litigation-oriented lawyers lack of funding lack of information

First MEDIATION Initiatives IN LITHUANIA More active court conciliation from 2003 Court mediation pilot project in civil cases from 2006 by the Decree of Judicial Council, extended to other courts in 2007 Law on Mediation in Civil Disputes adopted on 15 July, 2008 Amendments to the Code of Civil Procedure in 2011 - stipulated possibility of conducting mediation as part of conciliation process (Art. 231, part 1); - mediator’s immunity from witnessing facts learned from mediation (Art. 189, part 2); prohibition to use data obtained during mediation as evidence (Art. 177, part 5). Conferences, scientific works (first dissertation in 2009), first mediators’ trainings New Concept of development of mediation in Lithuania since 2015 (initiated by Ministry of Justice)

WHERE IS LITHUANIA NOW? Mediation in civil justice Out-of-court mediation Private mediation Mandatory pre-trial mediation Mediation in special cases Court mediation Mediation in administrative justice Mediation in administrative commissions Mediation in criminal justice ? Mediation in probation

Private (out-of-court) civil mediation No statistics. WHERE IS LITHUANIA NOW? Private (out-of-court) civil mediation No statistics. Areas where private mediation takes place in Lithuania - Family mediation. Business mediation. Mediation in authors’ rights sector. School mediation. Changes: Past (until December 31, 2018) Present (from January 1, 2019) No special requirements for mediators Requirements: To have high university education; 40 hours of mediation trainings; Mediators’ exam Unblemished reputation No list of private mediators National list of mediators Only consensual mediation Mandatory pre-litigation mediation in family disputes (from January 1, 2020).

In Lithuania since 2006 – pilot project WHERE IS LITHUANIA NOW? Court civil mediation In Lithuania since 2006 – pilot project Currently – part of civil procedure, all courts participate Court mediators listed (in the end of year 2018 there were 482 mediators, 81% of them are non-judges) Though only 19% of court mediators are judges, most of mediations are mediated by court mediators-judges (87% of civil cases by judges-mediators/13% by non-judges) Problem: only a bit more mediations than mediators in 2017 – 540 mediations and 366 mediators.

WHERE IS LITHUANIA NOW? Court civil mediation Changes: Past (until December 31, 2018) Present (from January 1, 2019) Court mediators – judges and non-judges Court mediators – only judges Requirements for judges-mediators: mediation trainings under judges training programme Requirements for judges-mediators: if a judge has more than 3 years of practice, he needs only 16 hours mediation training and does not have to pass an exam; If a judge has less than 3 years of practice, he needs to have 40 hours mediation training and pass mediators’ qualification exam Court mediation is only recommendatory Court mediation is still recommendatory, but under the Code of Civil Procedure (Art. 231(1)) judge is vested the right to order the parties to try mediation if she sees perspectives for the settlement

Application of mediation in Lithuanian courts (civil cases) Growing numbers of court mediations and their effectiveness Compared to year 2015 number of mediation cases raised by 155 percent.

To compare: Number of civil cases in the court of first instance in Lithuania (year 2017) – ~ 194 497 cases Population of Lithuania - 2 808 901 (end of year 2017) Number of mediations in civil cases (year 2017) – 540 cases Majority of court-mediation cases are family disputes (~50%)

Effectiveness of court mediation in Lithuania

Categories of civil cases usually directed to court mediation in Lithuania (year 2017) Copyright and related rights

Mandatory pre-trial family mediation in Lithuania (from January 1, 2020) Idea: before bringing action to the court in family dispute, parties are obliged to try mediation Disputes: only those family disputes, which may be heard in an ordinary court procedure Case categories (under Republic of Lithuania Code of Civil Procedure XIX chapter): Divorce cases; Separation cases; Children custody, alimony and meeting order disputes; Determination and challenging of paternity (maternity); Parental authority restriction cases.

Mandatory pre-trial family mediation in Lithuania (from January 1, 2020) How will that mandatory pre-trial mediation scheme operate? If consent is given, mandatory mediation takes place. To State guaranteed legal aid service Chooses and appoints mediator from national list of mediators A party/Both parties Bring a request to appoint mediator State guaranteed legal aid service within 3 w. days sends invitation to the other party to agree on mediation (15 w. days to agree) If consent is not given, a party may bring an action to the court after fulfilling her duty to use mandatory mediation. If consent is given, mandatory mediation takes place. Mediator within 3 w. days sends invitation to the other party to agree on mediation (15 w. days to agree) A party/Both parties Bring a request to mediate To Chosen mediator from national list of mediators If consent is not given, a party may bring an action to the court after fulfilling her duty to use mandatory mediation.

Mandatory pre-trial family mediation in Lithuania (from January 1, 2020) Payment for mandatory mediation Dispute is mediated by mediator chosen and appointed by State guaranteed legal aid service Mediation services are paid from state budget by State guaranteed legal aid service according to prices set up by the Government; Only services of 1 mediator are reimbursed; Only 4-hours mediation session is reimbursed; Mediator additionally receives payment for 1 hour preparation and 1 hour to finalize mediation Dispute is mediated by mediator chosen by the parties from national mediators’ list Mediation services are paid by the parties together; Price for mediation services is agreed mutually by the parties and mediator.

Obstacles and challenges STILL to overcome Low level of mediation awareness between the parties of the disputes Pro-litigious approach Relatively cheap and fast litigation No easy-to-understand information for the parties about mediation Budgetary restraints Lithuania definitely has a lot to do to make mediation scheme working. But we are sure that it is worth doing… Thank you! Contacts: n.kaminskiene@gmail.com