The USAID Rule of Law Program continues supporting the Mediators Association of Georgia and Georgia’s court-annexed mediation centers with the capacity building of mediators, judges, coordinators and lawyers, as well as their efforts to promote the awareness of mediation in the country. 

On January 28-29, 2023, with USAID Rule of Law Program support, the Mediators Association of Georgia (MAG) hosted the annual meeting of the Coordination Council of Court Mediation Center coordinators.

The meeting enabled court mediation center coordinators from Tbilisi City Court and Rustavi City Court to share their experience on case management issues with the coordinators of newly opened mediation centers, discuss the challenges encountered in the process of case referrals, exchange views on the existing procedures, and agree on the data to be collected for the purposes of monitoring and statistics. 

MAG Chairman Irakli Kandashvili emphasized that “courts play a critical role in development of mediation in Georgia as they are presently the main triggering point for the referral of cases to mediation.” 

“The Mediators Association of Georgia formed the Coordinators Council to provide a platform for the coordinators of court mediation centers to exchange their views and learn from their mutual experiences. We are grateful to the USAID Rule of Law Program, as supporting this activity contributes to building confidence in both the MAG and the judiciary, and more broadly contributes to the development of mediation across the country.” – said Irakli Kandashvili.

In her welcome notes, Rule of Law Program’s ADR Advisor Sophie Tkemaladze said: “The coordinators’ role is pivotal in mediation case management, user satisfaction, data monitoring, and experience-based learning. This meeting enabled representatives of the newly opened mediation centers to understand the needs and challenges related to case management with judges, who refer cases; mediators, who mediate cases; MAG, which assigns mediators; and the parties, the users of the process. It also helped coordinators of those mediation centers which have been operating for several years exchange best practices and brainstorm on new approaches, as well as agree on what data should be collected to track and analyze the centers’ progress. “

Currently, there are 11 court mediation centers open throughout Georgia. The next court mediation centers are anticipated to be opened in 2023 in Dedoplistskaro Regional Court, Akhaltsikhe Regional Court, Poti City Court, Zestaponi Regional Court, and Zugdidi Regional Court.