€125 mediation course did not cover Family Court mediators

Family lawyers and experts have since been calling for more mediators to be appointed to help cater for the influx of court cases which is bound to increase following the introduction of divorce.

During the opening ceremony of the Forensic Year 2011, Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri also highlighted the lack of mediators and their short availability.

In an interview with MaltaToday, family lawyer Ramona Frendo said that mediators are not professionally trained.

According to comments made in other sections of the media, there are currently 10 mediators working in the Family Court and around 100 pending mediation cases.

Social workers and lawyers who took part in the 2009 course said they were asked to take an oath and were sworn in as mediators. But despite some 40 who attended the mediation course, the number of appointed mediators remained unchanged.

Each participant paid €125, with the impression they would be able to start serving as mediators in the Family Court.

Replying to questions sent by the MaltaToday, the Justice Ministry said that in May 2010, the Board of Governors of the Malta Mediation Centre met a delegation representing the group of mediators who participated in the course.

“The meeting was held at the request of the mediators precisely to discuss the need for more people working in mediation,” a spokesman for the ministry said.

At the meeting it was made clear that the call for applications for appointment of mediators stated, “in the most unequivocal terms” that participants would be appointed to act as mediators under the provisions of the Mediation Act and no reference whatsoever was made to Family Court mediators.

“Although the course programme made a reference that the seminar would focus on certain aspects of separation, it made it amply clear that its principal aim was to provide training to prospective mediators in basic mediation skills,” the spokesman said.

“It was also explained to the delegation that family court mediation was outside the ambit of the Malta Mediation Centre, as this was regulated by Subsidiary Legislation 12.20 and not by the Mediation Act”.

This means that MMC is not in a position to make any sort of arrangement enabling mediators appointed by the Centre to assist mediation sessions in the Family Court.

“No one expects a person who attends a two-and-a-half day seminar on mediation to be accredited as a family mediator,” the spokesman said.

Last February, the University of Malta, in consultation with the ministry, introduced a course leading to a post-graduate diploma in family and other fields of mediation.