There was a discussion forum "The role of the mediation institute in ensuring public harmony" in Astana

In Astana, there was an international dispute-forum under the auspices of the Council of Mediation of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan on: "The Role of the Mediation Institute in Ensuring Public Accord."

Deputy chairman - Head of the Secretariat of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan of the Presidential Administration E.Tugzhanov, deputy of Majilis of the Parliament, chairman of the Council of Mediation of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan B. Abdraym, chairman of the Coordination Council, Scientific Director of the Federal Mediation Institute, President of the National Organization of Mediators of the Russian Federation Shamlikashvili, chairman of the Union of Judges of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Karaganda Regional Court M.Alimbekov, professional mediators, judges of regional and district courts, representatives of NGOs took part in its work.

The judge of the Supreme Court Ulbosyn Suleimenova and the judge of the East Kazakhstan regional court, a member of the Council of Mediation of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan Yeldos Zhumaksanov delivered reports.

U.Suleymenova told about the pilot project of the Supreme Court, the main tasks of which are expansion of the scope of application of conciliatory procedures, minimization of court expenses of citizens, identification of people's interest in extrajudicial settlement of the dispute (conflict). Stressing its importance, the judge noted that the mandatory conduct of mediation is necessary in the following categories of disputes (conflicts), namely in the interests of the child, determining his place of residence and determining the order of his communication with the parent, removing him from other persons, collecting maintenance for the maintenance of adult children . Mediation is conducted on the basis of the principles of voluntariness, equality of parties, independence and impartiality of the mediator that carries out conciliation procedures, inadmissibility of interference in the procedure of mediation, confidentiality, and compliance with the requirements of acting legislation.

According to E. Zhumaksanova, only in 2016 the courts of the East Kazakhstan region with the application of mediation totaled 8,969 cases (8.4%), of which 853 (19.5%) were criminal cases; civil - 4 923 (7.4%), administrative - 3 083 (8.5%). Thus, the statistics clearly shows that since 2014 the application of conciliatory procedures has increased three-fold. The above mentioned data is not just numbers, but the result of all judges’ work of the region. He introduced proposals for amending the Law "On Mediation" and the Law "On Notary", concerning executive inscription.

Following the results of the forum, the participants decided to create a National Association of Mediators under the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, hold a mediators' congress in the second half of 2017, considered the possibility of introducing a mechanism for paying for mediator services on the example of guaranteed state legal aid, and create a permanent organization under the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan with the goal of training qualified mediators - experts and mediators - practitioners in the regions.

In conclusion, the Council of Mediation of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan and the National Organization of Mediators of the Russian Federation, as well as the Council of Mediation of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan and the Federal Institute of Mediation of the Russian Federation signed the Memorandum on the Development of the Mediation Institute and the Action Plan for its implementation. The purpose of concluding the Memorandum is the implementation of joint activities within the framework of cooperation on the comprehensive implementation and development of the institution of pre-trial dispute settlement, including the institution of mediation, which contribute to reducing the level of conflict in the society.