Mediation in Romania. Facts and Fiction

This paper analyses the impact of introducing mandatory mediation before civil trials in the Romanian legal system, considering the international context in which this occurred. The study aims to identify if mediation has a positive effect, making civil trials more efficient or if, at the contraire it has a negative effect on the legal system itself by generating simulated situations. In fact, there is a risk that mediation, although mandatory, will become a simple formality. In this case, the need to comply with pre-trial mediation requirements only extends the timeline of the whole process, having exactly the opposite result than expected. This research was conducted using content analysis, comparison and conceptual frameworks. The undertaken analysis revealed important issues regarding the legal framework of mediation in Romania as well as a certain incoherence of the legal practice. Mediation, as a solution for conflict resolution, by becoming a binding procedure is not able to reach a balance between ensuring compliance with civil rights and simplifying the civil trial. A pre-trial procedure leads to a decreased number of cases that go to court only if this option is considered and freely accepted by both parties; otherwise it remains a simple stage of the legal process that lacks any efficiency.