Citizens should be informed about the possibilities and educated about the advantages of mediation

About 60 percent of Montenegrin citizens support the idea of ​​resolving disputes out of court, but the number of those who have heard of mediation is at the same level as six years ago, which is why information and education are key when it comes to mediation.

This was announced at the press conference of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM), on the occasion of the presentation of the results of the research “Citizens’ Attitudes on Mediation”, conducted within the project “Support to Improving the Efficiency and Transparency of Montenegrin Judiciary”. with the support of the Ministry of Justice.

CEDEM Program Manager Ognjen Markovic said that the survey was conducted from July 5 to 17, with 1,002 respondents, and that in 2013 CEDEM conducted a survey on mediation in co-operation with the OSCE. .

When asked if you or someone close to you had experience with a court in the last three years, in October 2013, 68.3 percent of citizens said they had no experience with the court, and 72 percent said so in July this year. citizens. The number of those who had experience with the court was reduced from 31.7 to 28 percent, “Markovic said in the PR Center.

According to him, the idea of ​​solving problems outside the court in 2013 was supported by less than a quarter of citizens, while today over 60 percent of citizens support that idea.

“On the other hand, six years ago, almost 65 percent of citizens did not have an opinion on this issue, and today only every tenth citizen falls into this category,” Markovic said.

Although the position on resolving disputes outside the court has progressively changed, as he explained, when it comes to mediation itself, there are no significant differences between the two studies.

“The number of citizens who have heard about mediation is today more or less at the same level as six years ago. Those who did not know that there is a way in the court system called mediation / mediation, in 2013 there were 67.5 percent, while this year that number increased to 68.9 percent. The number of those who knew decreased from 31.8 percent to 29.9 percent, “Markovic said.

“When it comes to the knowledge that problems can be solved through mediation, today there are more or less the same number of citizens who have this knowledge as in 2013. When asked if you knew that you can resolve your dispute through mediation / mediation and without initiating court proceedings, 74.6 percent of citizens said six years ago that they did not know, and this year 71.5 percent of respondents said so. The number of those who knew in 2013 was 25.4 percent, and this year 28.5 percent, “said Markovic.

The dominant sources of information about mediation, as he stated, are identical to six years ago, and those are the media, friends and relatives.

“In October 2013, the number of those who knew who to turn to was 8.8 percent, and that number rose to 14.7 percent in 2019. The percentage of those who do not know who to turn to has been reduced from 91.2 percent to 85.3 percent, “Markovic said.

That there is a Center for Mediation / Mediation, as he said, in 2013 heard 19.7, and this year 20.5 percent of citizens, while 80.3 percent of respondents in 2013 did not hear that there is a Center, and this year 79.5 percent of citizens answered that way.

Markovic stated that today a larger number of citizens know what mediators are and what they should do, than was the case in 2013.

“When asked if you know who the mediators / mediators are and what they should do, they did not know in 2013, 82.1 percent answered, and this year 73.4 percent. The percentage of those who know who the mediators are and what their job is has increased from 17.9 to 26.6 percent, “Markovic said.

“This percentage is only slightly higher today than in 2013.” As reasons why they would rather resolve the dispute in court, the respondents stated that it is a matter of trust, expertise, fairness of court proceedings, but they also stated that they have no information about mediation and that it has not taken root in practice, “Markovic said.

When asked if you personally would be interested in resolving the dispute if you have a dispute, he said that in 2013 there were 65.7 percent of those who answered positively, and this year 63.7 percent, and the number has increased slightly. those who would not resolve the dispute through mediation from 34.3 to 36.3 percent.

“The number of citizens who would resolve disputes in court has decreased, and the number of those who would resolve through mediation has increased. However, the largest number of those who do not know and cannot assess whether they would rather resolve the dispute they have in court or through mediation, “Markovic explained.

He pointed out that a very small number of citizens who personally, or whose close relative had experience with mediation.

“This data shows that the number of those with experience is smaller today than it was in 2013. The percentage of those who had no experience with mediation increased from 90.8 to 96.2 percent, and the percentage of those who had experience with mediation decreased from 7.6 to 3.8 percent, “Markovic said.

Those who had experience with mediation, as he said, evaluate that experience significantly more positively than was the case in 2013.

“This experience was mostly negatively assessed by 47.1 citizens in 2013, and only 10.3 percent this year. The percentage of those who assessed this experience as very positive increased from 34.6 to 43.4 percent, “Markovic said.

“There were 49.2 percent of those who are generally dissatisfied in 2013, and 10.6 percent this year. We can see a big difference when we look at the answer very satisfied. This year, that percentage was 47.1 percent, while in 2013 it was 27.3 percent, “Markovic said.

He explained that a positive trend can be seen when it comes to the satisfaction of citizens with the cooperation, ie the work of the Mediation Center and the mediators themselves.

“Significantly more citizens today than in 2013, who assessed the experience of negotiations very positively, which took place with the help of mediators. “Those who had a positive experience with mediation, cite speed and efficiency as a key advantage, and a small number of those who had a negative experience are not satisfied with the mediator’s behavior in a general way,” Markovic explained.

Over 72 percent of citizens who had experience of mediation would, as he said, choose mediation again before a trial.

“This percentage is significantly higher than in 2013, when it was 45.1 percent.” And over 80.3 percent of citizens would recommend to friends or relatives to resolve a conflict or dispute they have through mediation. This percentage is almost twice as high in relation to the research from 2013 “, stated Marković.