Revista da EMERJ - V. 20 - N. 2 - Maio/Agosto - 2018

 R. EMERJ, Rio de Janeiro, v. 20, n. 2, p. 73 - 115, Maio/Agosto 2018  111 Is there a law that defines who can perform mediation ? The Act on Mediation in Slovakian was adopted in June 2004 and entered into force on 1 September 2004. The transposition of the Directive 2008/52/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2008 on certain aspects of mediation in civil and commer- cial matters has significantly influenced the development of media- tion legislation in the Slovak Republic. The legislation provides a basic regulatory framework for me- diation, remaining flexible in many respects and preserving the ad- vantages of the process. The intricacies of the mediation process (for example, private meetings of a mediator with the parties) are not regulated by the Act on Mediation. Section 1 of the Act on Mediation provides that the Act applies to disputes arising from civil (pursuant to the Civil Code), family, commercial, and workplace relations. According to practising media- tors, mediation in about 80% of cases leads to a successful outcome, i.e. it terminates by a mediated settlement agreement. This applies to community disputes (conflicts between neigh- bours and at schools, financial affairs between municipalities, dis- putes between the mayor and inhabitants, environmental disputes, etc.), family disputes (conflicts between generations, conflicts betwe- en spouses, conflicts between spouses before a divorce, division of assets after a divorce, visits of children after a divorce, etc.), labour disputes (problems between employers and employees), disputes concerning ownership (e.g. ownership of a plot of land), commercial disputes (e.g. financial issues between corporations or organizations, controversies between distributors and subscribers, disputes concer- ning rights of authors, etc.). What kind of training program is required: how many hours and main topics taught ? The content of vocational training and assessment of mediators are set out in section 9 of the Act on Mediation. Vocational training, examination and certification of mediators may be conducted only by specifically accredited educational institutions in the range of 200 hours plus oral and written examination.