Models of mediation in cross-border child abduction cases
Mediation usually takes place in the same country as the court case and is scheduled several days before the court hearing. As cross-border child abduction cases are always high conflict and take place under pressure and within a tight judicial and time framework it is generally agreed that co-mediation is essential. The Guide to Good Practice on Mediation states in Chapter 6.2.3:
Based on experience gained with cross-border family cases in the German-French and German-American mediation projects, the Wroclaw Declaration on Mediation of Bi-national Disputes over Parents’ and Children’s Issues from 2007 recommends the following model of co-mediation:
- bi-national: one mediator from each of the parents’ home countries
- bi-lingual: both mediators should speak both languages
- bi-gender: a man and a woman
- bi-professional: one mediator with a psychosocial or educational and the other with a legal professional background.
This model is beneficial to the parties in that both cultural backgrounds are reflected in the mediation process and their language, attitudes, values and priorities will be understood. It is also beneficial to the mediators as they can be confident of grasping the highly complex and intense emotional and legal situation at hand and dealing with it in the most constructive way possible by giving each other mutual support, all the while modeling cross-border cooperation. Their impartiality is not affected.