The Council of Europe is conducting an expert review on the integration of private mediation centres into the national system. To this end, the functioning of private mediation centres and regulations on the accreditation of mediators and mediation centres in European countries are being reviewed. In addition, an assessment of the functioning of the existing mediation centres in Turkey is being undertaken. Under scope of this activity within the framework of the EU-CoE Joint Project on “Promoting Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in Turkey”, four field assessment visits and meetings will be held.
The first field assessment visit and meeting took place on 1-2 November 2021 in Istanbul and the second on 4-5 November 2021 in Ankara.
During the visit in Istanbul, the representatives of the Ministry of Justice, international consultants of the Council of Europe, Leonardo D’Urso and Adi Gavrila, representing the ADR Centre, local consultants, Nurhan Ünal and Aşiyan Süleymanoğlu and the Council of Europe staff visited two mediation centres and a law firm. The visit also brought together the relevant stakeholders in a roundtable meeting to discuss relevant European best practices, the most appropriate model for the system in Turkey, and criteria for increasing efficiency and qualification of mediation service providers in Turkey.
The field assessment visit held in Ankara gave the opportunity to the Council of Europe delegation and the representatives of the Ministry of Justice to visit two mediation centres and the mediation bureau of the Ankara Courthouse.
Within the scope of these visits, in-depth discussions were held with the aim at cross-checking the available information and confirming the findings of the desk research on the functioning of the mediation mechanism in Turkey. To this end, the functioning, physical conditions and institutional capacity of mediation centres, competencies of mediators, needs, challenges, solutions, feasibility on the integration of these centres into the national system, perspectives of the mediation system, as well as reasons for preferring to stay out of the system, and problems experienced in the process of mediation party attorneyship were addressed. Views and recommendations of the relevant stakeholders were collected.
The meetings were held with the attendance of approximately 40 participants for each visit, including the representatives of the Ministry of Justice, the Turkish Bar Association, representatives of mediation centres, mediation bureaux staff, independent mediators, and lawyers.
The feedback received from the field visits and meetings will be included in the research report, which will contribute to the work of the Ministry of Justice on the accreditation of mediators and mediation centres and their integration into the system in Turkey.
The Joint Project on “Promoting Alternative Dispute Resolution in Turkey” is co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe. The Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Turkey – Directorate General for Criminals Affairs and Directorate General for Legal Affairs are the end beneficiaries of the Project. The Central Finance and Contracts Unit is the contracting authority.
