Within the Commercial Mediation in Serbia project, implemented by consortium of organizations consisting of European Centre for Dispute Resolution (Slovenia), ADR Center (Italy), ADR Group (UK) and Partners for Democratic Change Serbia (Serbia), in cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia and the Judicial Academy, and with support of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and UK Investment Climate and Governance Fund, a Basic Training for Mediators was held in Nis, from 21 to 25 May 2018.

The training was conducted in accordance with the Rulebook on Training Program for Mediators (“Official Gazette of RS”, No. 146/14). The training was held in Belgrade, at the premises of Commercial Appellate Court in Belgrade. At the end of the training participants were awarded certificates on completion of basic training for mediators, which is one of the conditions for obtaining the Mediator’s License and acquisition of rights to enroll in the official Register of Mediators of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Serbia.

Through a series of lectures and interactive workshops and exercises, 23 participants had the opportunity to get acquainted with the legal framework for the use of mediation in Serbia, regional experiences and international standards in this field, they have mastered the basic skills of communication, conflict management and negotiation, dealt with stages of mediation, and considered the most important ethical issues, and have had the opportunity to find themselves in the roles of mediators, through simulations of hypothetical cases. During the training, examples of good practice mediators in Serbia, the UK and the US were presented and analyzed, as well as the most important sources and resources from the international mediation practice. The participants also had the opportunity to hear more about the extensive mediation practice in Slovenia.

Lecturers at the training were Masa Kociper, from Slovenia, as well as Dragana Cuk Milankov and Jelena Arsic, from Serbia.

At the end of the seminar, the participants were given detailed explanations and information about the conditions for obtaining license to mediate and instructions on how to register into the official Register of Mediators of the Ministry of Justice and the application of tariffs for mediation.

This training was the fourth and the last basic trainings for mediators, planed to be organized within the two-year Project, and that was aimed at training judges and judicial assistants of commercial courts in Serbia.