On December 14, 2019, the Mediators Association of Georgia was founded for the first time in Georgia, and thus December 14 was declared as the Professional Day of the Mediator. The day was celebrated in Georgia for the fourth time this year.
GEORGIA TODAY talked to the chairman of the Mediators Association of Georgia, Irakli Kandashvili, who was elected to the position of chairman for the second time at the election meeting of the Mediators Association of Georgia on December 16.
Congratulations on the fourth Professional Day of the Mediator. How would you evaluate the past four years for the profession?
It is a great honor for me that trust that was unanimously expressed in me by my fellow mediators at the meeting. It is a great responsibility. I am glad that the profession positively evaluates the past four years and that we continue the institutional introduction and development of mediation in Georgia with a united team approach.
Mediation is a new word in the Georgian reality, it is a truly unprecedented reform in the last decade, which allows the disputing parties to resolve the conflict between themselves. The past four years were full of challenges and difficulties for the newly founded association and the profession, although it can be safely said that the Georgian mediators coped with all the challenges and difficulties with dignity; we were able to take many effective steps in this short period, which will become a prerequisite for the further development of the profession. I am glad that all the steps taken during these years were aimed at the development of the profession and the future of the profession; I am doubly glad that my colleagues evaluate this path positively.
What would you highlight in the activities?
The introduction of a new profession and its institutional recognition simultaneously require a solid infrastructural arrangement of the organization, as well as increasing awareness and gaining credibility in society. During these four years, we have taken equally effective steps in the mentioned direction, seeing Georgian mediators already having a working environment in the form of an office. We were able to develop, with the involvement of foreign experts, European standards for entry into the profession, which leads to public confidence in the qualifications of those in the profession, as well as to develop a code of professional ethics and the rules for disciplinary proceedings based on European standards. We also agreed on mandatory annual professional development training courses for mediators, so the public know that they meet in their profession mediators who have studied to high professional standards, who will be retrained every year, and whose activities will be based on ethical standards.
We also introduced an online remote production platform for mediation, which was a correct and effective step in the development of the profession in time and space against the background of the global pandemic.
The priority for the association is to increase the awareness of mediation in society, and in this direction, about 60 memorandums of mutual cooperation have been signed with representatives of various public and private sectors, with the support of which the process of development and establishment of mediation in Georgia will continue successfully. Among them, it is a priority for us to introduce the teaching of mediation as an alternative dispute mechanism in secondary and higher education institutions, and we can proudly say that from September 2021, mediation has already been introduced in the textbooks of ninth grade students, mediation is taught as a compulsory subject in three universities, and it has become an optional subject in law faculties of almost all universities.
With the support of the United States Agency for International Development, we have introduced the very important annual international forum “Mediation for Business” and “Mediation for Lawyers”, and therefore, every year, specialists in this field will have a platform where they can learn about the latest news and practices. In 2022, the ceremony of taking the professional oath of new mediators entering the profession took place for the first time on the Professional Day on December 14. This year, up to 100 newly joined mediators took the professional oath.
I’m very happy that our professional association hosted first Regional International Conference within the Mediation Week 2023 and Mediators from Ukraine, Moldova, Azerbaijan and Armenia participated in the event, am glad that we decided to make this event annual, that once again underlines Georgia’s role in region and the stage of development of Mediation as dispute resolution mechanism in our region.
Tell us about the mediation mechanism. What characterizes mediation, distinguishing it from other dispute resolution mechanisms?
Mediation is the only dispute resolution mechanism that allows the parties, considering each other, to be able to and reach a mutually beneficial agreement tailored to each other’s interests. With the development of mediation, the culture of reasonable dialogue and social peace is introduced in Georgia.
I will take advantage of your newspaper and once again congratulate each mediator on their professional day and wish them professional success, development, remember that behind us is the good name, credibility and collective reputation of the profession and that the professional activity of each of us today is the tomorrow of the mediator profession!
Happy new year 2024 to all of Georgia!
Translated by Mariam Mtivlishvili
