Norwegian Experiences Related to Court Mediation

1. Norwegian Experiences Related to Court Mediation Judge Heidi Heggdal Oslo District Court

2. I. Introduction • Court mediation in Norway • A lawsuit is filed before the court • In court with judges as mediators • All judges can mediate

3. History • Trial project • 1st of January 1997: Five district courts and one appeal court • 1st of January 1999: Trial project expanded, Oslo District court joined • Gradually more and more courts joined • New Civil Procedure Code 1st of January 2008 • Court mediation is now incorporated in our Civil Procedure Code

4. Why Court Mediation? • In the legislative background for the trial projects: • Faster • Cheaper • No publicity • Flexible • No winners or losers

6. Why not? • The critics of the Trial Project said: • Its not much faster • If the mediation fails, its more expensive and time consuming than litigation • The role of the judge becomes unclear for the parties • The general publics trust in the court system and the judges will be degraded.

7. Evaluation of the Trial Project • Researcher Knoff evaluated the Trial Project. • Faster and cheaper than litigation • Court Mediation fills a need that can not be obtained by other Dispute Resolution Offices.

8. Court Mediation in Norway in numbers • Has Court Mediation resulted in higher numbers of settlements? • Trial project evaluation: • Knoff indicated in his research a slight increase in settlements • From 37% to 42% • How many of the civil cases are mediated? • Trial Project evaluation: about 20% • 2008-2011 (after the new Civil Procedure Code) • 2008:18% • 2009:19% • 2010:16% • 2011:14% • Does Court Mediation work? • Trial Project: 80% of the mediated cases were settled • 2008-2011, about 60% of the mediated cases were settled

9. From the court get the case, until the case is solved is in average about 60-65% of the time of a litigated case.

10. Conclusion • Court Mediation is effective, both for the parties and the court. • Court Mediation has not degraded the publics trust in the courts in Norway • Court Mediation is here to stay.

11. Court Mediation, the procedure • Civil Procedure Code, Chapter 8. • The judge has by law a duty to consider the possibility of solving the case by negotiation or mediation unless the case is not fit to be settled • All civil cases can be mediated except: • Family custody cases • We got another procedure for these cases • Children welfare cases and some others

12. The parties will be asked both in writing and by the judge that is handed the case if they agree to Court Mediation • Telephone conference to plan the handling of the case • If they agree • The case will be given a date for mediation, normally within a couple of months

13. The mediator can not handle the case after the mediation, if the case is not settled. New judge for the litigation. • The mediation process • First meeting all together • Separate meeting • Confidentiality • In-court settlement (public) • Out-of- court settlement (not public)

14. All judges can mediate, in our court you are allowed to say no • Mediators need education and practice • Specialists among the Judges

16. Court Mediation in the future • More cases, more complicated cases, less mediation or more mediation? • Average time from filing a lawsuit to the case is finished is now about ½ a year in Norwegian District Courts • Competition from lawyers and other competent mediators and negotiators

17. In Norway its not an option not to offer the parties Court Mediation • Court Mediation is considered an important alternative to litigation, by judges, lawyers and parties • In the future we should explore the possibilities to get more cases mediated. There is definitely room for improvement.