Mediation
Code of Conduct

All individuals performing the role of conciliators shall abide by the following norms of conduct.

I. The Mediator shall be duly trained and has the responsibility to maintain and improve his or her professional skills in the practice of disputes resolution. The Mediator shall not engage himself or herself in mediation if he or she feels that they cannot manage the process with due cure and skills.

II. The Mediator must make known 1 any circumstance that may undermine his or her independence 2 or generate a feeling of impartiality 3 or lack of neutrality 4 . The conciliator must always act, and give the impression of acting, in a completely impartial manner towards all parties involved and remain neutral toward the dispute. The conciliator has the duty to refuse the appointment and to interrupt the performance of his or her tasks due to the impossibility to maintain an impartial and/or neutral position.

III. The Mediator shall assure that, before the commencement of the conciliation, all the parties involved understand and explicitly accept the following: the aim and nature of the conciliation procedure; the role of the conciliator and of the parties; the obligation to confidentiality for both the conciliator and the parties.

IV. The Mediator shall perform his or her role diligently, independently from the value and typology of the dispute

V. The Mediator shall not exert any pressure on the parties involved.

VI. The Mediator shall not disclose any information obtained during the conciliation process, or related to it, including whether the mediation has started or finished, except when otherwise provided for by the law or by reasons of public order. Any information revealed to the conciliator by one of the parties shall not be disclosed to the other parties without prior consent of the party interested, unless such information regard facts that are against the law.

1. The Mediator must inform the parties about any circumstance that may affect his or her independence, impartiality and neutrality, even if this may actually not affect the correctness of the relationship with the parties involved. The existence of the above mentioned circumstances does not automatically mean he or she is not up to the role of Mediator.

2. Independence means absence of any kind of objective tie (personal or business relationship) between the Mediator and one of the parties.

3. Impartiality means a subjective position of the Mediator, who shall not favour one single party to the detriment of the other(s).

4. Neutrality refers to the position of the Mediator who shall not have a direct interest in the outcome of the mediation procedure.