OSCE in Montenegro presents new research on citizens’ attitudes to mediation

At an event in Podgorica held on 24 February 2014, the OSCE Mission to Montenegro presented results of research on the attitudes of citizens’ to the process of mediation as an alternative to resolving legal disputes.  

The survey was conducted on behalf of the Mission by the non-governmental organization Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM). It provides recommendations on how to improve the use of mediation by the Justice Ministry, the State Centre for Mediation and the judiciary. The research was carried out on a sample of 922 respondents in 16 Montenegrin municipalities.

Presenting the results of the research, CEDEM expert Milos Besic noted that 67% of respondents did not know what mediation is, however, 65% of respondents stated that if they had a dispute,  they would prefer to resolve their dispute by mediation. Out of the total number of respondents, only 7.6% have had experience with mediation, while 80.3% had not heard about the existence of the Centre for Mediation.

The Head of the OSCE Mission, Ambassador Janina Hrebickova said: “Mediation deserves strong support as it has proven to be an effective and efficient means of resolving disputes.  If used properly, mediation can empower participants to resolve their own conflicts and have ownership over the result. Besides a means of peace-making in everyday situations, it also relieves overburdened courts from deciding on cases the litigants are capable of resolving with the assistance of a professional mediator - often at a lower cost to themselves and the judiciary.”

The initiative is part of the OSCE Court Monitoring Project, funded by the Embassies of the United Kingdom, Netherlands and the United States in Podgorica.

The OSCE Mission to Montenegro will continue to support the Centre for Mediation in its activities.