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LAW OF CIVIL PROCEDURE
287
Mediation in Civil Disputes
2
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Att. Alper Uzun
Introduction
The Law on Mediation in Civil Disputes No. 6325 (“Law”) was
accepted on 07.06.2012 and published in the Official Gazette dated
22.06.2012 and numbered 28331.
The provisions of the Law will enter into force 1 year after its
publication, thus on22.06.2013. TheRegulationon theLaw(“Regulation”)
was published in the Official Gazette dated 26.01.2013 and numbered
28540, and will enter into force on the same date as the Law.
The Law regulates mediation in Turkish law for the first time.
Article 1 of the Law stipulates that mediation shall be applied only in
the resolution of private law conflicts, including those having a foreign
element, arising from acts or transactions of interested parties who have
the capacity to settle such conflicts.
The preamble to the Law states that it aims to regulate the procedures
and principles for resolving conflicts without recourse to courts; the goal
is to arrive at a solution simply and easily through mediation, a form of
alternative dispute resolution.
Under the Law and the Regulation, mediation is defined as “
a method
of voluntary dispute resolution system carried out with the inclusion of
an impartial and independent third party; who is specially trained to
convene the relevant parties by way of systemic techniques and with a
view to help such parties mutually understand and reach a resolution
through a process of communication”
.
According to the Law, a “Mediator” must fulfill the following
conditions: (a) be a Turkish citizen; (b) a graduate of the faculty of
law and have at least 5 years experience in the profession; (c) be fully
capable; (d) have no criminal record for having committed an intentional
crime; and (e) have completed mediation training and passed the written
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Article of March 2013