MEDIATION IN THE EU: COMMON CHARACTERISTICS AND ADVANTAGES OVER LITIGATION

Mediation is an alternative extrajudicial procedure intended to resolve a dispute quickly and efficiently. One of the tasks of mediation is also to relieve the judicial system because disputes whose parties can find a compromise in their legal conflict can be successfully resolved without court involvement. Although the many EU Member States have adopted specific legislation on mediation and the courts fully encourage the parties to resolve their disputes through extrajudicial procedures, mediation is still not widespread in the EU. This is largely due to the lack of structured information about mediation and its advantages over litigation. The purpose of this article is to present the main features of mediation in the EU and to highlight why mediation is more convenient, faster, more efficient, and more cost-effective. The advantages over litigation and the possibility of application in many disputes should contribute to the development of mediation which the European community strives to achieve.