Mediator as a Profession Incorporated into the System of Common Courts – Civil Mediation Practice in the Light of Recent Changes

Abstract

The article is an attempt to examine the results of the amendments, which have been introduced to civil procedure and to mediation law since the 1^st January 2016. Mediation corresponds with the nature of private law and in many other Western countries it has become a significant part of justice in civil, commercial and family matters. The examined updating was meant to: raise the social knowledge and recognition of mediation; increase the number of mediations conducted; motivate lawyers to apply it as a solution for legal disputes; raise the standards of professional court mediators and – last but not least – shorten the length of the civil proceedings. Most of the changes have been inspired by the EU directives on commercial disputes.