Free aid

Free mediation is an amicable dispute resolution. It is offered within the free legal aid and citizens advice. The objective of mediation is to reach an agreement between parties in conflict, through a dialogue, and with the help of a mediator.

The mediator may also help citizens to prepare a mediation contract, a request for mediation at court, a request for penal mediation, or a request for a confirmation of the mediation results by a court.

Who can benefit from free mediations?

Free mediations are available to all individuals in conflict wishing to solve it amicably. Self-employed entrepreneurs are also entitled to it. Those requesting mediations must meet the inclusion criteria for free legal aid.

Free mediations might start both before and during trial, unless the court already recommended them.

How can I sign up for a mediation?

• by phone – calling the given Poviat registration number;
• online – sending an email to the given Poviat’s designed email or filling the form available at https://zapisy-np.ms.gov.pl;
• in person – at a Poviat’s Hall.

What do I have to bring with me?

For in person mediations, a written declaration stating the inability to afford paid legal help is required.

Entrepreneurs submit:

• a written declaration stating their inability to afford paid legal help;
• a written declaration confirming that they had no employees within the previous year;
• all the de minimis statements, including agriculture and fishing, about the aid received within the year where the free mediation was requested and within the two previous fiscal years, or declarations with the aid amount during that period, or declarations confirming no aid was received during that period.

Where can I attend free mediations?

Free mediations are part of the free legal aid and citizens advice programmes. All facilities in every Poviat offer help to draft documents.

How does it work?

NGOs running the centres offering free legal aid sign a contract with a mediator, entitled to run mediations between parties. Free mediation is also available at facilities offering free legal aid run by lawyers, who are also licensed mediators. Individuals signing up for free mediations will be directed to a facility within the Poviat, where the services of a mediator are available.

Some facilities offer mediations on certain days and at certain hours. However, the fact that some facilities might not work that way does not mean that you cannot sign up for mediations. In such cases, it is better to call the Poviat Hall and ask where mediations are run.

To check those facilities out and sign up for a mediation click HERE.

Poviat, Local Government, and City Halls, and their respective websites, also feature information about the available facilities.

Can I benefit from free mediation if I am disabled?

Free mediations are also available to individuals with special needs. They may benefit from free mediations. Special requests during mediations (such as a sign language interpreter) should be signaled upon sign-up or immediately afterwards.  

Individuals with severe physical disabilities, who are not able to leave their home, and those with communication difficulties, as stated in the Bill of rights from the 19^th of August 2011 on sign language and other means of communication, might also ask for a consultation at a different location or for a remote consultation, by phone or using an online communicator, independently of the epidemic situation.

To access more information about free aid for individuals with special needs, click HERE.

Only entities, whose founding documents state that they run and manage mediators’ lists, are allowed to do so. Meanwhile, universities managing such a list are obligated to submit it to the regional court Chief Justice, who oversees the list of mediators.

Any person having full legal and civic capacity can become a mediator. According to the guidelines of the Council for Alternative Dispute Resolution to the Minister of Justice, an at least 40-hour training, together with a certificate od completion, qualify to become a mediator.

Such a training should cover basic mediation rules, the psychological mechanisms of conflicts, a practical mediation training, and the rights and organisation during the mediation procedures.

It is also possible to be included on the mediator list after graduating from a postgraduate mediation course preparing for the profession of a mediator.

However, a mediator, who previously provided legal help or citizens advice to any of the parties in conflict, cannot run an free mediation between them. Neither can a witness, the author of the legal assessment of the case, a therapist consulted by any of the parties, an individual who ran a background check on the parties or who might not be impartial. In any of the above-mentioned circumstances the mediator refers the parties to a different mediator within the same facility or at a different facility.

Mediators were mentioned for the first time already in Sumer, the first civilisation to produce in writing the rules of its functioning. It then spread to the nearby Egypt. Whilst rulers most often took the role of judges in ancient times, priests, civil servants or regular citizens, who were authority figures, formally or informally took the role of mediators. Conflicts were also resolved within a religious community or with the help of elders.

In Eastern Asia Confucius’ philosophy led to the belief that society should be able to resolve alone the conflicts between its members. Therefore, taking a case to the tribunal was considered of last resort, and could even lead to losing all respect.

In ancient Greece, there were arbitrators who served as mediators. They were selected by the conflicted parties and were meant to facilitate reaching an agreement. Only when no agreement was reached, the matter was taken to a court of jurors. The word mediation comes from the Greek word medos, meaning means “intermediary, neutral, not belonging to any party”. Meanwhile, in Ancient Rome both arbitration and mediation existed separately. At the beginning, mediation procedures were based on customary usage. However, in the 6th century A.C., the mediation procedures were written down in Digesta Iustiniani.

In the Middle Ages, priests took the roles of mediators in Christian Europe, and sometimes even the pope mediated between conflicted rulers.

The modern alternative ways of solving conflicts were developed in England and later were transposed to the US, together with other elements of common law. These multicultural foundations were the basis of contemporary mediation, which flourished in the US.

A Team for the implementation of Mediation, under the Patronat Penitentiary Association, was appointed in Poland in 1995, following the German example. The team contributed to the creation of mediation facilities all over the country. Those facilities were carrying out a pilot mediation project for underage offenders and their victims.

The Bill of rights from the 15^th of August 2018 on the modifications to the bill on free legal aid, legal education, and other bills (Dz.U. from 2018, pos. 1467), introduced free mediations for citizens in financial difficulties.

Both court and free mediation are run by mediators. However, they are some important differences between these two; for example, the court mediations are mandated by a court, whereas the free mediations are requested by the parties in conflict. Furthermore, parties can also choose paid mediation that does not need to be mandated by a judge. All mediations aim at reaching an agreement satisfying both parties and using a dialogue, without the intervention of a lawyer.

To find out more about free mediations, click HERE.

The creation of the National Register of Mediators is to turn mediation into a profession. The project will also help with the implementation of the objectives of the Operational Programme Knowledge Education Development, leading to more effectively implemented and precisely formulated court decisions.

The project is implemented together with the Central Institute for Politico-Legal Analysis, the Lewiatan Confederation, the John Paul 2^nd Lublin Catholic University, and the Pomeranian Regional Chamber of Commerce. These partnerships are to ensure continuity in the development of mediation processes in Poland.

The Ministry of Justice is in charge of the legislative side of this project, of the preparation and of the implementation of the “National Register of Mediators” IT system, and of the related awareness campaign.

To learn more about the National Register of Mediators and the project “Promoting alternative dispute resolutions by improving the competence of mediators and the creation of the National Register of Mediators and other information activities”, click HERE.

In Poland not only is the International Mediation Day celebrated, but also a Mediation Week around it is held: conferences promoting mediations are held, consultations with mediators are offered, and competitions raising awareness about amicable conflict resolution are organised.

Are the facilities offering free mediation opened during the pandemic?

The facilities offering free legal aid remain open during the pandemic. They work in person or remotely, i.e., using remote technologies such as the phone or online communicators (Skype or Microsoft Teams), depending on the Poviat. Some of them offer both in person and remote consultations.

Is it possible to ask for a remote free mediation?

Some facilities might offer remote consultations by phone or using online communicators (Skype or Microsoft Teams). The general rule being that remote mediations are mainly for individuals with severe physical or communication disabilities. However, due to the pandemic, they are also offered to all other individuals.

To benefit from free mediations, you need to fill in a request form. You might do so in person at the Poviat Hall or remotely, i.e., by phone or by filling the form available on https://zapisy-np.ms.gov.pl.

Is the help free of charge?

Free legal aid, free citizen's advice, and free mediation are free of charge. Individuals in financial difficulties, who cannot afford paid professional services, may benefit from it. The afore-mentioned help is financed from the State budget and aims at granting equal access to justice.

Do the facilities offering legal help also counsel in other areas?

All free aid facilities offer full-range counselling. The facilities offering specific legal help most often also offer general counselling. It is therefore possible to sign up for any type of legal advice. To find out what a given facility offers, it is advised to call the Poviat Hall.

Is free mediation offered at every free legal aid facility?

Free mediation is offered within the free legal aid and citizens advice system. Therefore, it might be run wherever free legal aid is offered. There is also a list of facilities specialising in mediation consultations.

Can I sign up for free mediations outside of the Poviat of residence?

There is no localisation, i.e., the necessity of doing the consultation in the Poviat of residence, within the system of free legal aid. Therefore, individuals can sign up anywhere, independently of their place of residence.

Can I benefit from free mediation if I am a Polish citizen living abroad?

Free legal aid is available to all Polish citizens, who are unable to afford paid legal help at market prices. Due to the ongoing pandemic, it is possible to do remote free mediations, i.e., by phone or using online communicators. Therefore, Polish citizens living abroad are also able to benefit from free legal aid, free citizens advice, or free mediations.

Can I benefit from free mediations if I am a foreigner?

Any individual residing on the Polish territory may benefit from free legal aid and citizens advice. However, please note that most facilities will only offer consultations in Polish. In order to check the spoken languages at a given facility, visit the tab Help for foreigners or contact the adequate Poviat Hall.

Can I benefit from free mediation if I am self-employed and I hire employees?

Free legal aid is available to natural persons and self-employed entrepreneurs who did not have employees within the previous year. Entrepreneurs hiring employees can’t therefore benefit from free legal aid. The previous year is to be understood as the 12 months prior to the date on the declaration stating the inability to afford paid legal help, not the calendar year, fiscal year, or any other period.

Can I benefit from free mediation more than once?

Entitled individuals may benefit from free legal aid and citizens advice to the extent needed by their situation. In other words, they may ask for more than one meeting. They may sign up for more than one mediation. They may also ask for consultations about different matters, independently of the time elapsed since their last consultation.

Is free mediation anonymous?

Yes, and all the documentation (for example, the mediation protocol) is anonymised. Only before in person mediations, individuals are asked to sign a declaration stating their inability to afford paid legal help. The declaration includes their personal data, however that data will never be stored with the case data. Therefore, personal data and the case data are not correlated; the saved data are anonymized and the consultation is anonymous.

In case of remote mediations, i.e., by phone or online communicators, individuals do not sign declarations stating their inability to afford paid legal help, therefore, they do not share their personal data in writing.

Who controls the data within the system of free legal aid?

The declarations stating the inability to afford paid legal help are not accessible to third parties. The Poviat authorities administer all the personal data. The leader of the Poviat stores the afore-mentioned declarations for three years, counting from the end of the calendar year when the declaration was filed, in order to allow potential inspections assessing whether free legal help and citizens advice function properly.