Mediation fast-tracks resolution of legal disputes

Process can save time and money for those involved. Cao Yin reports.

After being mired in a dispute over a domestic water leak for more than a year, Lu Zhiwei obtained a satisfactory result within two hours of his case going through a mediation process at Beijing Fangshan District People's Court last month.

"I didn't expect my dispute to be resolved in such a quick manner. I assumed I would face time-consuming litigation", said the wood sculptor from Beijing as he held a copy of an agreement that he and the property developer had signed.

While Lu was freeing himself from long-term trouble, Bi Jinmei was successfully transferring custody of her daughter to her ex-husband via mediation at the court.

She wanted to ensure that the girl would benefit from the better educational resources in her father's residential area. When the case had been concluded, Bi expressed her gratitude for the resolution method, which provided a satisfactory result far faster than litigation could.

Last year, the nation's courts resolved more than 6 million disputes like these before they reached the litigation stage, a rise of 43.86 percent from 2020, according to the Supreme People's Court, the nation's top court.

Before 2019, courts nationwide were so flooded with civil cases－most of them relatively trivial－that not only was it difficult for judges to focus on genuinely significant disputes, but litigants faced long delays before their cases could be heard.

To ease the situation, the top court introduced a reform in case-handling methods that required courts nationwide to first select easy cases and those suitable for settlement without recourse to litigation, then solve them in diverse ways.

"Put simply, courts are like a problem-solving supermarket, where people can find solutions, including litigation and mediation, that best suit their dispute," said Liu Guocheng, deputy head of the case filing department at the Fangshan court.

"What my colleagues and I do is first decide whether a case can be mediated, then clarify the legal issues involved for the benefit of the mediators. This way, judges have more time to hear complicated cases, and many conflicts can be resolved at the primary level or the initial stage."

Faster process

Soon after Lu, the sculptor, initiated his lawsuit in December, he received a call from the court. He was told that he would spend at least six months in litigation, but that time could be shortened considerably if he accepted mediation.

"I was skeptical about what had been said in the call, so I searched online to check whether a case similar to mine had been resolved in this way. When I saw that many people were praising the efficiency of the mediation process, I decided to try it," he said.

"What I most wanted was to end the dispute as quickly as possible, as it had troubled me for such a long time that I couldn't bear it anymore."

The dispute between Lu and a real estate developer's company started in August 2020 because the company was reluctant to repair the leak, even though water was seeping through the walls and the door of his first-floor apartment.

"The company's phone went unanswered for the first six months, and when I finally managed to make contact, its indifference to the problem irritated me," Lu said during the mediation process at the court on Feb 15.

"Beijing saw a lot of rain that summer, so the walls were always wet and the doors and floors also buckled," he said. "I had to move my wooden carvings and furniture out of my home to prevent them from becoming damaged, which left me exhausted."

Though the company visited Lu's apartment to fix the leak in November, he was still unhappy.

"The developer ignored me again when I asked it to reimburse me for losses from the damaged doors and floors due to the leak," he said.

Pouring out his grievances during mediation, he added that he wanted to end the dispute as it had seriously affected his mood and the creation of new works.

The mediator concluded that the problem was not big, but it had been aggravated by the company's negative attitude and its delay to repairs. He told a company representative that Lu had requested about 6,300 yuan ($996) in compensation.

The representative replied that the company had admitted the fault and was eager to resolve the dispute as quickly as possible.

As such, it signed an agreement to reimburse Lu within one month.

Lu was a little upset when he discovered that the developer could not pay immediately, but after the mediator patiently explained the company's cash flow situation, he accepted the result.

"After all, compared with litigation, I would be paid much earlier and the amount was also what I wanted," he said.

Reassurance, respect

Xiao Jing, head of the court's case filing division, said Lu had also asked the court to confirm the legal effect of the mediation process he had undertaken.

"He felt that it would prevent the company from going back on its word and become a 'double insurance' for him to be compensated," she said.

Lu added that confirmation documents such as these are provided for applicants after judges have ensured that the related files do not contain legal errors or could potentially infringe on the legitimate rights of other people.

According to Xiao, the basic principle of solving civil cases under the Civil Procedure Law is to fully respect the autonomy of the parties, "which means the method of ending a dispute－mediation or litigation－depends on the people involved."

Bi, the mother, said she decided to use mediation to ensure the custody transfer. "My ex-husband also accepted mediation without hesitation," the 45-year-old said.

"Our aim was to accomplish the transfer as quickly as possible, because in this way my daughter will benefit educationally."

Bi's ex-husband nodded, and said nothing is more important than their child's future. "We divorced, but we both love our girl and try to give her the best," he said.

Li Xinli, a judge at the court, followed the whole mediation process, guiding new mediators to help them identify the focus of the case while explaining the law to Bi and her ex-husband.

Having confirmed that the custody transfer was the genuine intention of both sides, Li ordered the mediators to contact the girl via video link to ask her opinion.

"The child is 12 and can speak about her family matters, which is also her right granted by the Civil Code," Li said.

After the mediators had checked the girl's personal details－such as her name, age and where she goes to school－she spoke, saying, "I'd like to live with my father."

Xiao said: "We respect every party involved in a case. If either side decides to go for litigation halfway through the mediation process or insists on litigation to resolve the dispute instead of using mediation, we fully respect their choice and provide the relevant legal services."

In 2017, the court was named as a pilot program of the reform that solves disputes in diverse ways. Since then, it has mediated in more than 121,000 cases, and more than 30 percent of them have been resolved to the satisfaction of both parties.

Convenience

As a result of the reform, which has flourished across the country, the number of cases filed at courts declined in 2020, meaning that more people chose to solve their problems through mediation.

In the past three years, more mediators and mediation institutions have been allowed to join online platforms at courts to further help reduce caseloads and provide greater convenience in dispute resolution.

However, the Supreme People's Court said courts are always open for face-to-face discussions of disputes, both online and offline, and people who choose the online route will be assured of top-quality service.

It called for courts nationwide to make mediation services available in villages and communities to help more people resolve disputes in the initial stages.

Liu, from the Fangshan court's case filing division, highlighted the leading role of judges in mediation.

"We're like someone with their hands on a car's steering wheel. It is our duty is to keep the car moving along the right road," he said.

To reach the goal and ensure that more disputes can be settled before litigation is required, he suggested that courts nationwide provide more law-related training for mediators as a way of improving their efficiency and expertise during the process.

However, he also noted that the number of mediators is far from sufficient and the quality is uneven, and he called on them to gain knowledge in a wide range of fields, including finance and medical care.