Consortium Legal - Nicaragua
  March 23, 2004 - Managua, Nicaragua

Mediation: An Expedite Option for Dispute Resolution
  by Gertrudis Hernandez-Palacios

Commonly, conflicts are settled by a judicial organ, through which a legal expert issues a resolution according to legal criteria and provisions. Nowadays, the options to resolve conflicts are not only limited to the decision of a Judge, but there are alternative means characterized for being voluntary, confidential, economical, and expedite. These means are generally known as Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), which mainly include arbitration, mediation, and conciliation. They are conducted by an impartial third party, who is the suitable person in the application of any mean of ADR, and because he lacks of power to decide the dispute, he serves as an auxiliary element for the parties that search for a solution to the conflict. When talking about means of ADR in the national context we specifically relate to mediation, conciliation and arbitration, which, although are not the only ones, are the most commonly used in our system, especially mediation. Since more than a decade this procedure became familiar to our society. If we make a brief remembrance of its recent history, we may conclude that its sprouting goes back to 1990, with the introduction and development of mediation procedures through a communitarian model and in 1996 when it was formally incorporated to the system. The means for ADR may be used in different areas: civil, labor, family, criminal and corporate; whenever the parties manifest their consent to submit their differences to this type of mechanisms, and allow the application of legal provisions for the conflict resolution through extra judicial means. In response to the demands for expedite, agile, economical Justice and with the purpose to contribute to the modernization of Nicaraguan Justice, the firm Taboada & Asociados has founded the Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) as an extra judicial option in the resolution of conflicts. The operational strategy of the Centre ADR is mainly focused in two big lines: First, the development of the ADR processes: Mediation, Conciliation and Arbitration, as an alternative for responsible and direct participations of the parties involved, in the resolution of disputes that arise among them. The second line is directed to the implementation of Advisory services to public and private organization with regards to the general formation of ADR, and the Study and Analysis of the structuring of systems for the prevention and resolution of disputes. Currently, the international corporate tendency is to include the means for ADR in resolution of conflicts, not only for the economical benefits that it represents but for its confidential nature.