Home » New Mediation Code in Thailand: a draft copy

Office of the Judiciary Out-of-Court Mediation Rules - 2

June 26th, 2003 | posted by Erwin I. Katz

Article 3
Selecting the Mediator

1. Where all of the parties have jointly designated a Mediator, ADRO shall take note of that designation, and such person, upon notifying ADRO of his or her agreement to serve, shall act as the Mediator in the Mediation proceedings.

2. Where a Mediator has not been designated by all of the parties, or where the designated Mediator does not agree to serve, ADRO shall promptly appoint a Mediator, either through its committee or otherwise; ADRO shall also notify the parties of any such Mediator’s refusal to serve and of the final ADRO appointment. ADRO shall make all reasonable efforts to appoint a Mediator having the qualifications, if any, that have been agreed upon by all of the parties. See Article 2, section C above for a discussion of Mediator Qualifications and authority for ADRO to establish and maintain a Roster of Mediators.

3. Every prospective Mediator shall promptly provide ADRO with a curriculum vita and also a statement of neutrality, impartiality, and independence (“Statement of Independence”) with respect to the parties and the dispute. See Appendix 3 for a form of the Statement of Independence. The prospective Mediator shall duly sign and date each of these two documents.

4. Before completing the Statement of Independence, the prospective Mediator shall review his and his firm’s record sufficient to determine whether there is a basis for disqualification as Mediator. The review shall include, but shall not be limited to, a search for conflicts of interests in the manner prescribed by the applicable rules pertaining to the prospective Mediator’s profession. The prospective Mediator shall disclose in the Statement of Independence any facts or circumstances that might be of such nature as to call into question his or her neutrality, impartiality, and independence in the eyes of the parties at the time the prospective Mediator signs the Statement of Independence and at any time during or after the proposed Mediation that the prospective Mediator can reasonably anticipate or plan. If there are no such facts or circumstances, the prospective Mediator shall state in the Statement of Independence that there is no basis for disqualifying him or her from serving as Mediator in the subject dispute.

5. ADRO shall notify the Mediator of his/her appointment or non-appointment within ____days. The selected Mediator shall within _____ days thereafter notify all disputants of his or her appointment as Mediator and at the same time provide them a copy of a signed Statement of Independence.

6. A party to the Mediation, who believes that the selected Mediator or prospective Mediator has a conflict of interest, promptly shall bring the issue to the attention of the Mediator and to the other parties to the Mediation. If the Mediator does not withdraw, and any party is not satisfied with this decision, the issue shall be brought to ADRO’s attention by the Mediator or any of the parties to the Mediation. ADRO shall take such action as ADRO deems necessary or appropriate to resolve the alleged conflict of interest, including but not limited to promptly appointing another Mediator for the dispute.

7. The selected Mediator, from the time of his or her appointment and throughout the Mediation proceedings and process, shall without delay disclose to the ADRO and the disputants, in a written and filed Supplemental Statement of Independence, any change in facts or circumstances related to the Statement of Understanding. Such changes might include, but not be limited to, additional or new, actual or potential conflicts of interest.