The USAID Rule of Law Program hosted two parallel workshops on mediation for judges and judicial assistants from Kutaisi, Batumi, Khelvachauri, and Poti city courts. These are courts where mediation centers are either already opened (Batumi and Kutaisi) or where it is anticipated that court-annexed mediation centers will open during 2023 (Khelvachauri, Poti).

Both workshops focused on discussing: 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 steps and 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 issues raised in these joint sessions was how mandatory referral to mediation fits with the voluntary nature of mediation. The trainers addressed it by explaining that the mandatory part addressed only the referral, i.e. giving mediation a try, and it in no way envisaged the parties’ duty to stay in the process or come to a settlement.

USAID Rule of Law Program ADR Advisor Sophie Tkemaladze also shared with participants information obtained during the ADR Study Trip organized in June 2022, where UK colleagues shared that although mediation is already popular in the UK, the Ministry of Justice is working on a bill to subject additional types of disputes to mandatory mediation. There is a wide understanding among the international community that mandatory mediation enhances the use of mediation and thus contributes to access to justice. Chair of the Mediators Association of Georgia Irakli Kandashvili emphasized that there are well-trained local mediators in Georgia who are eager and ready to apply their skills and mediate cases referred to them by judges. He urged the judges to divert to mediation cases they deemed appropriate. 

Two additional trainers were engaged by the Program, Natia Chitashvili, a practicing mediator and the court-annexed mediation center coordinator for Mtskheta District Court, and Eter Chachanidze, a practicing mediator who has a long-standing experience of working with judges. They both shared practical experiences of how they handle cases as mediators and how the referral process is coordinated from an operational point of view.

One of the most important experience-sharing sessions was when Judge Darina Abuladze from Kutaisi City Court spoke about her experience of referring cases to mediation. Of the four cases referred by Kutaisi City Court to mediation, three were referred by Judge Abuladze. She emphasized that in all the cases she used mandatory referral since the party representatives opposed mediation; nevertheless, she considered those cases to be suitable. In two out of these cases the case returned with a settlement agreement, while the third case is still pending in mediation. Judge Abuladze’s experience served as an impressive example of how just doing it – screening and referring cases to mediation – can help judges dispose of cases in the best interest of society and the parties.

The Rule of Law Program will conduct the next such workshops for judges and clerks of eastern Georgia in the next several months.