International Mediation Institute Stichting
IMI
IMI was established and registered in The Hague in 2007.
ID: 24519318893-37
Lobbying Activity
Response to Fairness in platform-to-business relations
27 Jun 2018
The International Mediation Institute (IMI), registered on the EU Transparency Register and based in the Hague, is the international standards-setting body for mediation and mediators worldwide. With representation at the UN ECOSOC and performing as a key part of UNCITRAL's Working Group II on the Convention on the Enforcement of Mediated Settlements, IMI is a thought leader on the use of mediation in dispute resolution.
IMI has established several sets of standards for mediation professionals, including for mediators generally, and for e-mediators, or online mediators, specifically. Mediators are able to be trained and certified against these standards, ensuring the appropriate level of professionalism, impartiality, and competence. Vetted 'Qualifying Assessment Programs' ensure that all mediators meet the required standards.
With regard to the proposed Regulation, IMI notes the role of Article 10 in setting out requirements for mediators, particularly the need for impartiality and competency. We also note the need for online intermediation service providers to outlay mediators or mediation/ADR organisations in their terms and conditions. IMI urges the Commission to consider the applicability of IMI's existing infrastructure to both of these needs: in the first case, evaluating proposed mediators against IMI's established standards, and in the second, utilising IMI's 'find a mediator' capabilities when sourcing appropriate professionals for listing in service providers' terms and conditions.
With regard to Article 11 of the proposed Regulation, encouraging providers of online intermediation services to set up independent mediator organisations to facilitate settlement of disputes, IMI notes the potential for conflicts of interest where such organisations are set up by providers and also presumed impartial towards those providers. This provision is incompatible with Article 10 in the proposed Regulation, which stresses impartiality.
The International Mediation Institute recommends use of existing mediation professionals who are certified impartial and competent against IMI's standards, to abrogate this conflict of interest and avoid necessitating the establishment of new organisations by providers who may not have sufficient expertise in this field.
IMI welcomes the opportunity to speak directly with the European Commission and stakeholders to provide its advice as international experts, as well as to elucidate existing standards, qualification schemes, and mediator sourcing capabilities. Criteria for mediator certification and criteria for e-mediator certification, as established by IMI's Independent Standards Commission and produced by its specialist working group, are available on IMI's website at https://www.imimediation.org/.
Criteria for mediators: https://www.imimediation.org/qaps/cag-qaps/
Criteria for e-mediators: https://www.imimediation.org/about-imi/who-are-imi/online-dispute-resolution-task-force/ (see document library at bottom of page)
About IMI: https://www.imimediation.org/about-imi/
Submitted by Laura Skillen, Director of External Relations, International Mediation Institute
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