The Mediation Centre: A kinder, gentler process
-three cases show how simply talking can bring resolution
By Edlyn Benfield
Stabroek News
May 10, 2004
Peaceful resolution and reconciliation between family and friends can be viewed as two of the major advantages of the mediation process, according to Co-ordinator of the Mediation Centre of Guyana, Colin Chichester.
Stabroek News spoke with Chichester on Thursday about some of the success stories of the MCG, an initiative set up recently to assist in reducing the backlog of cases before the local courts.
Chichester explained that since confidentiality is crucial to the mediation process, the MCG cannot divulge personal details about the parties involved, however, he agreed to provide a basic outline of three cases that were successfully resolved through to mediation.
One of the cases that stood out, Chichester said, related to the division of property and had been pending in the High Court for an extended period when the judge referred it to the centre. The matter was settled after just one week of mediation with one party accepting a settlement of just over $10M, a sum that is smaller in comparison to the figure that was likely to have been determined had it remained in the court system.
In another matter, one party had rented a property to another party for the latter to conduct business but sometime later the business began to lose money and consequently, the tenant was unable to pay his rent regularly. As a result, the landlord had taken legal action against the client although the two had previously been friends. The matter remained before the court for about one year and the friendship had been affected. Mediation was subsequently suggested and after attorneys for both parties agreed to the process, some information was revealed during the third session that influenced the landlord to relent somewhat and extend the time limit he had previously imposed for the tenant to remove from the property as well as reduce the amount of money he had been seeking in the legal action before the court. Additionally, Chichester disclosed, the relationship between the parties has now improved.
"The informal atmosphere during the mediation exercise sets the tone for the disclosure of information that would not otherwise be disclosed in a normal court setting," Chichester pointed out.
He said that another matter that had also been pending before the court for more than a year had involved a group of siblings who had been set allotted property by their mother. However, their mother's decision had been verbal, and this led to problems among the siblings and the matter had been taken before the court. It was finally settled through mediation and the siblings as well as their mother were satisfied with the final decision to which they each contributed.
Chichester added: "Mediation also serves to restore friendships and other relationships and could reduce enmity between disputing parties."
The MCG was brought into operation earlier this year after the Supreme Court collaborated with the Carter Center Guyana with funding from the United States Agency for International Development and trained 25 local attorneys as mediators last September.
The MCG has had a total of 104 cases referred to it since it went into operation. It is located in the Supreme Court Registry at the Victoria Law Courts and Chichester can be contacted at telephone numbers: 227-2565 or 624-3084.