Last Monday the 15th we learned of the news reported in various media about Ángel Luis Campo, a judge from Gijón specialized in family mediation who, after having developed a pilot project on mediation for three years and successfully completed it, is now committed to reform the processing of civil procedures for impose mediation briefings to those who file lawsuits for separation or divorce. This means that those people who file a lawsuit in such cases will be required to undergo a prior session in which they are informed about the mediation.
Therefore, the mandatory nature of these briefings is clearly beneficial considering that it is an effective way to continue raising awareness of mediation and expand the range of possibilities for those affected by a conflict. The objective of this measure proposed by Judge Campo is not to impose mediation as the only dispute resolution procedure, but to inform about the existing alternative option and allow those involved to subsequently make a responsible and judicious decision. “Many don't even know about the service and it would at least be important for them to approach it and then decide if they want to use it or not,” says Campo.
Precisely, mediation is a good instrument because, as it is not imposed from outside, it requires the willingness of the parties to reach an agreement with which, according to Campo, they feel more satisfied: “Thanks to these extrajudicial solutions in family conflicts , the litigating parties have more prominence. Not everything is done to the couples, they have to participate in the process, making sure they are heard, and that is essential because Many times people complain that they do not have a voice in courtrooms”.
Making it clear that this initiative taken by Judge Campo would have positive effects and would help mediation become the preferred option, Would it be appropriate for the mediation process itself in family cases to also be mandatory or, on the contrary, would it violate the principle of voluntariness of the parties necessary for mediation to exist?
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