Mediation and Conciliation

An overview

Mediation (also called conciliation) is a procedure in which a neutral intermediary appointed at the parties' request endeavours to assist the parties in reaching a mutually satisfactory settlement of a dispute. A key difference between mediation and arbitration is that mediation is non-binding. Thus the mediator does not have any power to impose a decision on the parties. The role of the mediator is rather to assist the parties in reaching their own settlement. Mediation is also voluntary in the sense that either party may abandon the mediation at any stage prior to the signing of an agreed settlement.

Mediation can be used in conjunction with binding procedures like arbitration. For example, parties may agree that they will first try to reach a resolution of their dispute by mediation and, if no settlement is reached, proceed to arbitration. Parties may set a maximum time limit to attempt to reach a settlement by mediation, only at the conclusion of which a party may commence arbitral proceedings.

Mediation & Conciliation services

ACICA offers mediation administrative services for international mediations .
ACICA offers mediation (also called conciliation) administrative services for international mediations, including recommendations and/or appointments of experienced international mediators, collection of fees and holding of a security deposit. ACICA recommends the use of the UNCITRAL Conciliation Rules. ACICA provides the English language version on this website.

arrow Go to the UNCITRAL Conciliation Rules

Alternatively, these can be found on the UNCITRAL webpage at www.uncitral.org/en-index.htm.

Please see ACICA's Services section for more information on the mediation support services.

For domestic mediations, ACICA recommends the Australian Commercial Dispute Centre's Mediation Guidelines. The Australian Commercial Dispute Centre also offers mediation support services.