PRINCIPLES OF MEDIATION IN CIVIL SOCIETY AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THEIR APPLICATION IN THE EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT OF UKRAINE

Abstract

This article analyzes the principles of mediation and the features of its application in the educational environment of Ukraine. The study is based on the analysis of current regulations and their comparison in different countries, as well as on information obtained from the study of literature, in particular the works of authors from the legal sciences and other social sciences, where mediation is used as a means of agreement: in psychology, medicine, ecology, as well as the use of tools and comments specific to the study of law. The results of the study indicate that certain types of mediation principles are applied in different countries, taking into account the characteristics of law national systems. Despite this, principles such as the rule of law, the principle of equality (equal rights) of the parties, the principle of voluntariness, confidentiality, and mediator behavior (independence and impartiality, trust and justice) are applied in most of the studied models. National mediation systems, therefore, can be called fundamental. It can be said that the availability of the educational environment to introduce mediation as a conflict resolution tool in the educational environment has been discovered. In Ukraine, the draft law “On Mediation” defines the general principles of mediation; however, the problem lies in insufficiently clear criteria for disputes, which cannot be translated into mediation. Furthermore, the principle of the rule of law must be defined as one of the fundamental principles of mediation.

In Ukraine, civil society institutions themselves are trying to introduce and popularize mediation as an alternative dispute-resolution method. However, systemic problems with access to justice require finding other ways to resolve conflict situations. Mediation becomes especially relevant in the context of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the large-scale invasion of the territory of Ukraine by Russia, and the occupation of some regions of Ukraine, when access to the judicial system is limited.