Despite constant improvement, Moldovan court system is yet to gain confidence with the foreign investors. In such conditions, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) becomes quite important. In line with the Justice Sector Reform Strategyfor the period 2011-2015, developed by the Government of the Republic of Moldova with the assistance of the European Union and the Council of Europe, the Ministry of Justice has embarked on the EBRD-funded Commercial Mediation and Arbitration Project.
One of the basic aims of the Project is to promote and facilitate the use of Mediation as a means of dispute settlement in Moldova. What is Mediation? Mediation is a way of resolving disputes with involvement of a neutral third party (mediator). Mediator is a specially trained person helping the parties to form a mutually agreeable compromise. Mediation gains wide recognition worldwide due to its benefits related to:
– reduced costs and time,
– confidentiality of the disputed matter,
– the parties’ ability to control the process,
– voluntary character,
– high compliance, and
– broad range of possible solutions helping to preserve amicable relations between the parties.
The Commercial Mediation and Arbitration Project is implemented in Moldova by:
| ACI Partners | Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Moldova Mediation Council of the Republic of Moldova | Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) |
As part of the Project, CEDR, the leading independent commercial ADR provider in Europe and premier trainer of mediators internationally, has launched Mediator Skills Training programme to instruct 18 mediators who shall provide free of charge mediation services in commercial disputes in the two designated Moldovan courts (Botanica and Balti district courts) in a Pilot programme in order to test the mediation implementation process.
As of today 18 trainees have successfully been certified as Accredited CEDR Mediators.
ACI Partners being one the most ardent promoters of legislative reform in Moldova has been actively involved in the Project. ACI Partners co-authored the concept paper setting out the optimum structure for mediation of commercial disputes in the Moldovan courts, assisted at designing of a pilot programme to test the recommended structure and organized the CEDR training for the selected candidates in Chisinau.
For more details on how Mediation works in Moldova please contact our law firm Partner, Cristina Martin, listed Arbitrator at the International Commercial Arbitration Court of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Moldova.
