Mediation in a Comparative Perspective

Professor Anna Nylund is among the leading Nordic researcher in procedural law, and has have extensive work in the area of alternative dispute resolution mediation. Recently, she adressed the annual conference of  the International Association of Procedural Law During her presentation, she highlighted the need for defining mediation, especially in comparative contexts.

Mediation is a broad term, often used as synonym for alternative dispute resolution, and thus conceptual clarity is important. She also drew attention to how the civil justice system and its focus on litigation in courts shapes the assumptions underpinning mediation, and mediation practices, and addressed the gap between empirical research on disputants' needs and preferences challenges the tenets of mediation theory.

Nylund has previously published several works on the topic:

• ‘Alternative Dispute Resolution’, in Smits, Husa, Valcke & Narciso (eds.) Elgar Encyclopedia of Comparative Law. 3rd edition Edward Elgar Publishing 2023.

• 'Alternative Dispute Resolution, Justice and Accountability in Norwegian Civil Justice’. In Hoevenaars, Kas, Kramer & Themeli (eds.), Frontiers in Civil Justice: Privatisation, Monetisation and Digitisation. Edward Elgar publishing 2022.

• ‘Institutional Aspects of the Nordic Justice Systems: Striving for Consolidation and Settlements’, in Ervo, Letto-Vanamo & Nylund (eds.), Rethinking Nordic Courts. Springer 2021. (available open access)