Mediation in the Slovak Republic: When Is Simply Having the Law Not Enough?, Beata Swanová

Overcoming the Mediation Paradox: Ideas, Challenges, Good practice | International Scientific Conference | Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius, 2023 November 21
In Slovakia, the Mediation Act has been in force for almost 20 years, but the mediation ecosystem is still not well-developed and the number of cases falling under this procedure is low. The paradox of mediation in Slovakia consists of the fact that mediation has practically been repressed, as many of the facilitated dialogue processes that used to be implemented in practice without being called mediation have ceased to exist. Another reason why mediation is Slovakia is not flourishing is the way chosen by the national legislator to implement the requirement on the suspension of limitation and subscription periods stemming from the Directive through stipulating parties’ officially certified signatures on the agreement to mediate to recognize it as an actual mediation process. This created an additional burden of both an administrative and financial nature. All of this led to a gradual decrease in the number of mediations and the replacement of this procedure by mere conciliation. This requirement was replaced in 2016 by other provisions that further complicated the field and did not contribute to the spread of mediation. There are several other challenges to overcome today: mediation funding, mediators’ specialization, the development of judicial mediation, better access to services, and increased support for mediation from the Ministry of Justice.