On November 24-26, 2023, the USAID Rule of Law Program hosted two parallel workshops on mediation for 20 judges and 22 judicial assistants (from Tbilisi and Rustavi City Courts; Kutaisi Court of Appeals; District Courts of Mtskheta, Telavi, Gurjaani, Tetritskaro, Akhaltsikhe, Gori, Sagarejo, Bolnisi and Khelvachauri).

Mediation experts Irakli Kandashvili (Chairman of the Georgian Mediators Association (MAG)), Etuna Chachanidze (practicing mediator with a long-standing experience of working with judges), Sopho Chachava (MAG Executive Board member and a practicing mediator), Natia Chitashvili (MAG Executive Board member and the court-annexed mediation center coordinator for Mtskheta District Court) led the workshops.

The workshops answered questions in following areas: how mediation is different from settlement conferences conducted by judges; the different stages at which judges may refer cases to mediation; the factors that judges and clerks should consider when screening cases for referral to mediation; the procedures for referral of cases to mediation; and who are the mediators, how they are trained, and how are they chosen for a specific case.

While most sessions were held in parallel groups (judges and clerks separately), at the end of each day, all participants joined together to address common questions and experiences.

One of the highlights of the joint session was when Judge Natia Marshania from Tbilisi City Court shared her experience of referring cases to mediation. Judge Marshania reported that during the last two years, she referred 65 cases to mediation. She also mentioned that in those cases when the parties did not settle the dispute with a mediation agreement, but later reached a court settlement, the court settlement was due to the mediators' previous hard work on the case.

Irakli Kandashvili, MAG Chairman, emphasized that there are well-trained local mediators in Georgia who are eager to apply their skills and mediate cases referred to them by judges. He urged the judges to divert to mediation cases they deemed appropriate.

The experts also shared their practical experience of how to handle cases as mediators and how the referral process is coordinated from an operational point of view. After the workshop, participants expressed their gratitude for organizing such an event and said they now understand the mediation process better and are ready to start referring cases to mediation immediately.