Mandatory mediation in the United States of America Essay

Mandatory mediation in the United States of America - Essay Example (Mediation. Indopedia. [internet]). There are instances when mediation is resorted to because a controversy has arisen and the adversaries choose to have the matter passed upon by a neutral referee, called the mediator, rather than to go through the rigors and the high cost of court proceedings which are usually protracted. In some other situations, there is a clause in the covering contract in which the parties provide for a mediation mechanism. This part of the main agreement has a jurisdictional repercussion because the supposed hearing court will not normally entertain a stipulated dispute if the mediation remedy is not first exhausted. It is given that alternative dispute resolutions which include mediation have become the better option to settle controversies without resorting to court processes. (Alternative Dispute Resolution. Superior Court of California. County of Fresno. [internet]). It is claimed that the idea of mediation in the United States of America started as early as during the time of the native American tribes. (Eric van Ginkel. Mediation under National Law: United States of America. IBA Legal Practice Division. MEDIATION COMMITTEE NEWSLETTER. August 2005. [internet]). Before proceeding, it is deemed important that mediation be distinguished from arbitration because there is that usual mistake of interchanging the two under the wrong perception that both are the same or similar. Arbitration is a more expeditious, less complex and inexpensive replacement of a court suit. The controversy is endorsed to an impartial outside party called the arbitrator who has expertise over the subject of the conflict. After a prudent assessment and evaluation of the pertinent facts, the arbitrator decides in favor of the party he deems has a... Courts all over the world are clogged with cases. This drawback means humongous costs to the government concerned and an insignia of justice being denied as having been rendered too late. Owing to this, substitute ways to resolve disputes have long been thought of to patch up controversies peacefully and inexpensively, that is, without the intercession of the judicial agencies of the state.One such extra-judicial methodology is mediation which is a form of an alternative dispute resolution.Mediation is a tool used to resolve conflicts between or among natural persons, business entities and even nations. It is actually one of the conventional types of alternative dispute resolution, the other one being arbitration.There is no general federal law that governs definite rules and regulations over the whole caboodle of the mediation remedy. Even the Uniform Mediation Act cannot yet be fully applied to and adopted by all the states of the United States because the individual territories or jurisdictions have their own mediation structures and methodologies. Also, every state has its own unique culture, industry, climate, products and other variables for which each mediation procedure or set of procedures may rather be customized for appropriate applicability. Furthermore, the respective states already have mandatory mediation legislations in place numbering two thousand five hundred all over the country.