Parties in Mediation – Some Comments in the Context of the Parties’ Readiness for Mediation and the Suitability and Predisposition of the Case for Mediation

Abstract

This study represents an original attempt to clarify the concept of the parties’ readiness for mediation and the suitability and predisposition of a case for mediation, in line with the cogent proposal advanced by Andrzej Korybski: to systematise the basic conceptual framework used in the social sciences in research on mediation. Thus, the study provides a synthetic overview of Korybski’s approach to readiness for mediation. Subsequently, the author presents several major remarks concerning that approach, centred on the original proposal to expand the understanding of readiness for mediation to encompass the entire mediation process, including the parties’ behavioural sphere (in a way that complements and verifies the psychological and organisational spheres). This will enable one to distinguish between the so-called internal (subjective) and external (objective) forms of mediation readiness. Furthermore, the author argues that readiness for mediation should be understood in a broader conceptual context, against the backdrop of related phenomena and concepts (including those of similar scope), particularly those that constitute manifestations of mediation readiness that promote or undermine it. Among such concepts (phenomena), the following are specifically considered: good faith in mediation, the suitability of a case for mediation, the predisposition of a case for mediation, and the parties’ concerns regarding dispute resolution through mediation.