For mediation resources within the U.S., please see the Alternative Dispute Resolution research guide.

Global | Africa | Europe | Asia and the Pacific | Australia | The Americas

Global

AusDispute has a very helpful site, with resources (including links and publications) spanning the globe, extending far beyond Australia.

Catalaw: Alternative Dispute Resolution divides the sites that it links to into "focused" sites that are limited to that topic, and "Usual Suspects," which provide a good base from which to start searching.

Center for Non-Violent Communication is a worldwide network of people training communication techniques meant to help reduce conflict.

Dispute Resolution Around the World is a powerful resource compiled by the law firm Baker & McKenzie, describing the judicial system and available conflict resolution techniques in different countries across the globe.

The International Association for Conflict Management is an interdisciplinary and international organization, offering conferences, journals, and noteably, mentoring opportunities for students and young professionals submitting articles for publication in the field of Conflict Management.

The International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution (CPR)'s international page contains primarily European resources.

Juris International has an amazing compendium of links to mediation and arbitration centers on every continent but Antarctica, and frequently includes the full text of the centers' rules of mediation or arbitration.

MEDAL: five leading international mediation service providers are joining forces to establish a high-quality alliance of commercial mediation and conflict management service providers, called "MEDAL - The International Mediation Services Alliance."

More information is available on its component pages:

USA: JAMS, The Resolution Experts
The Netherlands: ACB Mediation
Italy: ADR Center

The United Kingdom: CEDR (Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution)
France: The CMAP (Centre de la Mediation et de l'Arbitrage de Paris) website is currently available only in the French.

The UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office's guide to Conflict Prevention includes many conflicted areas of the world, including Africa, Iraq, the Balkans, the Caribbean, Latin America, and recent information on the standing of a VERY broad range of countries.

Virtual Library-- Peace, Conflict Resolution, and International Security combines a phenomenal collection of links from around the world, linking to 15 or so independent search engines and many more links to institutions, agencies and organizations.

The World Mediation Forum, founded in 1993 (WMF) is a not-for-profit world-wide organisation committed to the ideals of education, international networking, and capacity building in the field of conflict management and dispute resolution.  WMF exists to link together all individuals and organizations who wish to promote conflict management  and dispute resolution in all its forms, and does so through conferences, congresses, lectures and publications promoting the exchange and development of knowledge and skills of mediation and conflict management throughout the world.

The World Trade Organization's Dispute Resolution Mechanism appears to be a form of arbitration, modified to allow for greater review by disputing parties and for appeal, and bears investigation as a model for future planning.

Worldbank's International Survey describes the confidence that the people of 69 countries have the judicial system to settle disputes and protect property,as well as the amount of time required to resolve an overdue payment. Detailed information is available for each country as well. While not strictly ADR, this provides a fascinating look at the areas in which ADR could be most useful.

The Restorative Justice Movement

Restorative Justice is a theory of justice that emphasizes repairing the harm caused or revealed by criminal behaviour. It is best accomplished through cooperative processes that include all stakeholders.

The European Forum for Restorative Justice is particularly noteworthy for the “countries” section of the page, which contains information on most all of the EU nations, and a nicely diverse page of links to restorative justice websites around the world.

The Victim-Offender Mediation Association, while based in the US, has a striking array of links from all over the world, including straightforward informational links as well as links to organizations practicing restorative justice.

Online Dispute Resolution

The Mediation Room offers mediation services in Australia, Canada, China, India, New Zealand, Nigeria, Poland, Republic of Ireland, South Africa, UAE, UK, and USA, in-person and online.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) was one of the earliest to set up a universal domain name dispute policy, and it has largely taken over the administration of domain names and prevented and resolved many disputes over the names.

ICANN is a project of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which has a very active mediation and arbitration practice in its own right.

Africa

The African Journal on Conflict Resolution offers scholarly explorations of African conflict issues, and all articles may be downloaded from the site without charge.

Conflict Trends Magazine has, since 1998, been a voice for peace, and strives to provide an understanding of the true causes of conflict and violence on the African continent.

Both aforementioned magazines are published by ACCORD, a group seeking African solutions to the challenges posed by conflict in Africa.

The Arbitration Federation of South Africa (AFSA) offers services, training (including diploma programs), and an excellent explanation of which cases would be suitable for dispute resolution and which mechanisms would be most appropriate.

Europe

United Kingdom

CORE Mediation offers an informative, if commercial, website, including news and quotes from prominent officials regarding mediation. Also offers training and coaching services.

The Nationwide Academy for Dispute Resolution provides a wealth of information about dispute resolution, including attorneys' roles, and several publications in various fields of ADR, as well as offering ADR services.

Family Mediation Scotland addresses questions people may have about family mediation--and includes an original kids' page, told from the point of view of a 9, 14, and 18 year old, to give parents a glimpse into the effect of their quarrels on their children and the possible benefits of mediation.

The Scottish Mediation Network, a clear website with an interactive map of local mediation providers, a free newsletter, conferences, and detailed information, seems to use the site to advance its mission: "...to put mediation into the mainstream, widely available and clearly understood as a first option for resolving disputes of all kinds in Scotland."

Germany

Pricewaterhouse Cooper’s created a summary of commercial dispute resolution procedures in Germany.

Scandanavia

The Nordic Forum for Mediation and Conflict Management includes links for Family, Workplace, School, Court-Annexed Mediation, as well as Society (peace mediation), Conflict Councils, and local Community links for the Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and the Faroe Islands).  For the moment, it’s better developed in Scandinavian languages than in English, although a lot of translation is taking place in preparation for their large conference in Spring 2006, to be held in English.

Netherlands's Mediation Institute (NMI) is known as having Europe’s most advanced mediator registration and certification scheme, as well as a clear and helpful website:

Russia

The Good Governance Program Program of the International Trade Administration (U.S. Department of Commerce) worked with the Supreme Arbitration Court, the International Commercial Arbitration Court, and Russian and American experts to develop and publish (in English and Russian) a Handbook on Commercial Dispute Resolution in the Russian Federation.

Asia and the Pacific

Asian Law Online Dispute Resolution Bibliography offers a wide variety of books and articles published on the subject of dispute resolution in Asian nations.

Asia Pacific Dispute Resolutionis an international collaborative research initiative of the Institute of Asian Research at The University of British Columbia (UBC) supporting research, analysis and policy proposals aimed at building knowledge on how disputes are resolved across different cultures.

The Asian Pacific Mediation Forum aims to facilitate the exchange and development of knowledge, values and skills of mediation in any form including inter-cultural, interpersonal, inter-institutional and international, within and between the diverse countries and cultures in the Asia Pacific Region.

China

This article explains (and differentiates among) the four types of mediation in China.

The US-China Mediation Center was founded to streamline dispute resolution between two nations increasingly involved in trade.  These three articles, the first an interview, the second a summary of goals or procedures, the third, an explanation of the reasons that the center was formed, give an overview of the center.

Interview

Procedure

Reasons

Discussions of, and strategies for, ADR interactions in China.

India

The legislative initiative for court-annexed mediation in India describes the history of dispute resolution in India as well as the reasons for the courts to refer cases to

mediation.

Malaysia

The Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration (KLRCA) provides a neutral system for the settlement of disputes in trade, commerce and investment within the Asia-Pacific region, as well as information about arbitration in Malaysia.

Australia

The Australian Dispute Resolution web site seems to extend out into the Pacific, including a directory of dispute resolvers, and links to other associations, in the Australian region.

The Americas

How Important is ADR to Latin America? This article, published in the Dispute Resolution Journal, gives an optimistic broad overview of recent developments in ADR in the various South and Central American countries.

Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) Arbitration and other ADR agreements includes links to the treaties that unite North, Central, and South American countries, as well as a very informative "Responses to Arbitration Questionnaire" for most countries describing the legal ADR possibilities in that region.

USAID programs in Latin America and the Caribbean not only details the progress made, but includes links to a page full of on-the-ground ADR contacts in countries receiving USAID assistance in implementing ADR in the interests of justice.

If you have any comments, suggestions, or further resources you would like to add to this page, please email: Rebeka Fortess, Library Intern or Lusiella Fazzino, Electronic Resources/ Reference Librarian.

Last updated May 15, 2007.