Voluntary and Mandatory Mediation Services (Court Mediation Services)
In Voluntary Mediation, parties attempt to resort to mediation voluntarily for the solution of a dispute that is appropriate to resolve by mediation as regulated by law. If the parties reach a settlement it will not be necessary any more for bringing an action before courts. However, if the parties don’t reach a settlement, they may bring a legal action before courts at any time.
In Mandatory Mediation, the law-maker obliges parties to resort to mediation for the employee – employer disputes and commercial disputes. In that case, parties firstly shall apply to the mediator before bring an action before courts.
Labour disputes are foremost among these. As of the date of January 1, 2018, according to Article 3 of the Law No. 7036, application to a mediator becomes a condition for lawsuits to be filed with claims on re-employment, receivable or compensation of the employees or the employers based on personal employment contracts or collective bargaining contracts. In other words, the related employee or employer shall firstly apply for mediation process for settlement of the said disputes, and in case that the parties could not reach a settlement through mediation process, they may bring an action before courts.
Secondly, the Law on Commencement of Execution Proceedings for Collection of Monetary Receivables Arising Out of Subscription Agreements No. 7155 was published in the Official Gazette on December 19, 2018. According to the Law No. 7155, mediation becomes as a condition for commercial cases by the date of 01 January 2019. Another way of saying in detail, application to a mediator becomes as a requirement before filing commercial lawsuits with claims regarding collection of receivables and compensations, subject of which are about payment of a certain amount. The mediator must conclude the mediation process, whether or not a settlement is reached by the parties in dispute, within 6 (six) months as of his/her appointment. This term could be extended by a mediator for 2 (two) weeks in compulsory cases. If a case is filed before application to a mediator, the court will dismiss the case on procedural grounds.