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Historical background

The need for amicable conflict resolution stemmed when the escalation of conflict turned out not always profitable. The implication of a third party, a liaison attempting to resolve the conflict, was the next logical step. Liaisons are impartial and ready to help the parties in conflict to reach an agreement, i.e., they are mediators.

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 15th 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.

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