Mediation has a long history. It is practiced in many different ways, on every
continent, and many different institutions are involved in it. Hence it is a highly
familiar phenomenon that spontaneously means something to everyone.
But despite this familiarity, much curiosity is still being shown about mediation
in some quarters, because unknown or poorly understood aspects of its identity
continue to emerge. There is a tremendous amount to be said about mediation, with
its rich past, its dynamic present, and its enviable future. In short, it is a phenomenon
that sows, propagates, and engenders in every direction, in all seasons.
This wide-ranging impact of mediation is the focus of this collection of papers by
the national rapporteurs who participated in the session on cross-border and judicial
mediation at the XIXth International Congress of Comparative Law, held in Vienna
from July 20 to 27, 2014. Together these papers present new seeds of mediation,
new sources from which it can be propagated, and new elements engendered by its
active presence.
These extensive effects of mediation make it priceless. They enable its participants
to exchange information and share knowledge about it, to refine the process
that characterizes it, and to build networks that will ensure its lasting development.
The universal nature of these effects of mediation demonstrate that the fundamental
and applied knowledge that it embodies knows no borders.