NCJ Number
98565
Date Published
1984
Length
31 pages
Annotation
State legislation implementing the process of mediation is examined, limitations of existing legislation are considered, and the need for such legislation is discussed.
Abstract
The 1976 Pound Conference served as the manifesto of the dispute resolution movement and provided its proponents with the necessary intellectual recognition and background. An outgrowth of the conference was research into community mediation efforts based on the neighborhood justice center model. In 1980, the Dispute Resolution Act provided Federal recognition and a source of funding for nonjudicial alternatives. By mid-1983, 20 States had adopted or proposed legislation implementing alternative dispute resolution procedures. State legislation can be categorized into four basic types. Comprehensive dispute resolution acts seek to resolve all envisioned program problems into one all-encompassing statute. The legal issues approach ignores funding. The funding approach, as enacted by the Texas Legislature, leaves legal issues to the county courts. Problem-specific legislation (divorce and child custody, for example) affects only the specified topics of dispute. Each type of act is limited in certain ways by the approach it takes. The most common limitations include a strings-attached approach, a tendency to tie programs to the court system directly or indirectly, a confusion of goals, and provisions which apply only to those programs and mediators that satisfy the criteria of the acts. Issues which can and should be addressed by implementing legislation in the future include legitimization of the process, confidentiality, training and licensing, and funding. Footnotes and references are included.