JLP Journal of Law And Politics JLP 2671-342X 2671-3438 Balkan University Press 177 Research Article A LEGAL OVERVIEW OF MEDIATION PROCEDURES IN FORMER YUGOSLAVIAN COUNTRIES (R. CROATIA, R. SLOVENIA, AND R. SERBIA) Kaprolli Fjolla International Balkan University 10 04 2024 5 1 64 86 CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Mediation is a mechanism known for its efficiency, economy, and flexibility, characteristics that enable the constructive resolution of a dispute between parties. This method offers an extended range of contributions, especially regarding its influence on the state itself and on that state’s citizens. The successful practice of legal mediation seen in different states, starting from the USA, known for resolving 90% of its civil cases through this extrajudicial method. Afterward, the rest of the world began introducing this legal tool into their national legislations. Establishing mediation in countries’ legal systems are also been conditioned by the need to make a country’s laws and legal standards compatible and in harmony with those of the European Union. This, in addition to the goals desired to achieve with this action, namely reducing the number of unresolved cases in court, reducing procedural costs and duration, and increasing the quality of dispute resolution and parties’ involvement in the dispute resolution process, resulted in judicial involvement regarding contemporary reforms and in particular increasing citizens’ trust in the judiciary. This process started at the same time for a considerable number of Balkan states, whose main aim was integration and membership in the European Union. The paper will focus on a legal analysis of the mediation procedure through the method of content analysis for the laws of a selected number of states in the region (i.e., Republic of Croatia, Republic of Slovenia, Republic of Serbia), as well on finding the similarities and differences for several elements of this procedure in these states compared to those in the Republic of North Macedonia.

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