Effective Strategies for Community
Dispute Resolution and Mediation
Improving Access to Justice and Promoting Peace
Around the World
CHRISTOPHER MOORE, PH.D. PARTNER
CDR ASSOCIATES
BOULDER, COLORADO USA
Community Quarrels, Disputes and Conflicts
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Different names, types, intensities and potential outcomes of community
issues
Some examples:
• Inheritance
• Boundary encroachment
• Competition over access to water
or other resources
• Landlord/tenant issues
• Damage to property
• Theft
• Commercial issues
• Refugee returns after violent conflict
• School/student issues
• Assaults and minor harm/criminal issues
• Tension between ethnic or religious groups
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What is the Need or Problem to be addressed in the Community
or Society?
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Improving Access to Justice and resolution of interpersonal or intergroup
disputes?
Resolving disputes related to livelihoods or financial issues?
Promoting social harmony and positive interpersonal/intergroup
relationships?
Addressing natural resource or environmental issues?
Reducing or managing serious potential/actual violent conflict?
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Barriers to Effective Dispute Resolution through Administrative
or Judicial Procedures
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Difficulty of access – Distance
Cost – Expensive for low income people
Time – Long time period to secure an administrative
or judicial decision
Understanding – Ability of parties to understand
legal procedures/standards and outcomes
Perceptions of partiality toward more powerful/
rich parties
Bias – Toward women, minorities, youth, etc.
Corruption – Of lawyers, judges and administrators
Difficulty of enforcement – Problems in enforcing outcomes
Face-saving – Win-lose outcomes that result in loss of dignity, honor, or
personal or community respect
Polarization of parties – Harms interpersonal and/or community relationships
and harmony
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Standards for Non-Judicial Dispute Resolution and Improving
Access to Justice
The “Protect, Respect and Remedy” (The Ruggie Principles) – A framework
that establishes standards for non-judicial dispute resolution systems,
mechanisms and procedures.
Non-judicial dispute resolution
should be:
 Legitimate
 Accessible
 Predictable
 Equitable
 Transparent
 Rights-compatible
 A source of continuous
learning
 Based on engagement and dialogue
Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations ‘Protect. Respect and Remedy’
Framework. New York and Geneva: United Nations, 2011, pp. 33-34.
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Some Examples of Community Dispute Resolution Programs and
Services
National-State/Government-based Programs
 What are they and when used/appropriate?
 Examples:
• The People’s Mediation
Committees, Ministry of Justice,
People’s Republic of China
• The Barangay Justice System,
the Philippines
• Mediation Boards, Ministry of
Justice, Sri Lanka
• Mediation Centers, Ministry of
Justice, Mongolia
• Land Coordination Centers,
Land Commission, Liberia
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Some Examples of Community Dispute Resolution Programs and
Services
NGO-based Programs
 What are they and when used/appropriate?
 Examples:
• Nepal NGO mediation
programs
• Mercy Corps’ community
mediation projects in
Myanmar and Iraq
• Norwegian Refugee Council’s
(NRC) Collaborative Dispute
initiative in the Democratic
Republic of Congo – Welcoming
and Integration Commissions
• Mindanao conflict resolution program
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Some Examples of Community Dispute Resolution Programs and
Services
Enhancement of Existing Dispute Resolution Mechanisms
 What are they and when
used/appropriate?
 Examples:
• United Nations/
Organization of American
States training for Judges
in Haiti
• NRC training for customary
authorities in Afghanistan and
Liberia
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Some Examples of Community Dispute Resolution Programs and
Services
International Community Mediation Programs
 What are they and when used/appropriate?
 Examples:
• UNHABITAT Land Dispute
Resolution Project, Democratic
Republic of Congo
• Norwegian Refugee Council’s
Collaborative Dispute Resolution
Project in Jordan and Lebanon to
address refugee tenant-landlord
and community issues
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Focuses for Dispute Resolution
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Providing routine dispute handling assistance
• General – Broad number of issues and cases
• Specific – Targeted family, landlord/tenant, gender, school, land,
commercial, juvenile justice, minor criminal, etc. cases
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Providing responses to crisis or potentially violent conflicts
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Institutional Arrangements
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Centralized/Decentralized Institutions
• Centralized with decentralized components
• Decentralized semi-autonomous “centers”
Governance, Personnel and Staffing
• Champions
• Commissions
• Administrator(s)
• Field staff
• Training
• M&E
Getting cases
• Multiple entry points
• Developing sources for referrals
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Models for Structuring Mediation Services
Boards – To create a broad pool of mediators to provide services and build
dispute resolution culture
 Provision of mediation – Solo
mediators, pairs or teams –
Issues of impartiality/neutrality,
acceptability to and ownership of
the process by parties, enhanced
assistance and prevention of bias
or corruption
 Mediator assignment procedures – Mediator selection by
parties or assembling panels
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Cultural Variables for Mediators and Mediation
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Language – What constitutes an issue, problem, dispute or conflict, and
common terminology?
Who are acceptable mediators – Status,
men, women, customary authorities, minorities,
youth?
“Impartial outsiders” vs. embedded
“internal partials”
Procedures – Positional vs. Interest-based
negotiation
Facilitative, transformative or evaluative/advisory mediation, or decisionmaking focus
Direct vs. indirect dealing and communication patterns
Low level direction vs. more directive
Standards and criteria used in decision-making – Legal pluralism
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Procedural Approaches in Community Mediation
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Facilitative mediation using
interest-based negotiation (IBN)
with goal of reaching tangible agreements
on substantive, procedural and/or
psychological/relationship issues
Transformative mediation and
restorative justice with goal of
restitution, compensation and improving
relationships through conflict transformation
Evaluative mediation with goal of getting advice
Third party decision-making or arbitration with goal of getting a non-binding
or binding decision
Combination of above procedures
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Training
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Identification, selection and training of trainers
Language – Concepts and terms
Content of training
• Cultural norms
• Mediation process
• Relationship and
• Communication skills
• Decision-making parameters
in the context of legal
pluralism
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Quality Control, Monitoring and Evaluation
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Training
Ethical standards and codes of conduct
Oversight and supervision of mediator performance
Provisions for accountability/disciplinary action
Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) for institutional learning and to identify
structural sources of conflict and opportunities to address them
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Factors for Success
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The need for a sustainability strategy – From the beginning
Champions –Advocacy support
De-politicization – Of the program, process and intermediaries
Strategies for overcoming resistance – From lawyers, courts, customary
authorities or others who may be threatened by the program and its services
Institutional/administrative capacity – To manage the program
Accessibility and low cost – To promote use
Recruitment of appropriate and trusted mediators – Culturally
accepted/respected with relevant knowledge and skills
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Factors for Success and Sustainability
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Training – Initial and ongoing
Nurturing mediators – To maintain involvement
Financial support – Breaking
dependency on donors
• Governmental/legislative support
• Link with formal justice system, as
appropriate
• Long-term commitment of donors
and transition strategy
when donor funding ends
• Fee for service
• Other sources of funding, such as
filing fees from filing of court cases
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Thank you!
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