Mediation for parents, 2009

A total of 20 185 mediations were completed in 2009; an increase of just over 1 500 cases from the previous year. Two-thirds of the increased case volume came to family counselling, while a third of new cases came to external mediators. The relationship between the number of completed cases of family offices and external mediators is still at the same level as for 2008, 67 and 33 per cent respectively of all concluded cases.

As in 2008, mediation in connection with separation or divorce accounted for 39 per cent of all mediations in 2009, and broken cohabitations accounted for nearly 30 per cent. Disagreements between the parents about parental responsibility, place of residence and access arrangements (mediations according to the Children Act) accounted for 31 per cent of the mediations. Few cases are referred back to mediation after they have been referred to the court system; this only applied to 6 mediations in 2009.

More time before initialisation of mediations

Twenty-nine per cent of all mediations in 2009 had not started after 3 weeks. This is an increase of more than 1 000 cases from 2008. The increase applies primarily to family counselling offices. Thus, 38 per cent of the cases handled by family counselling offices and 10 per cent of the cases handled by external mediators had not commenced after 3 weeks, compared with 34 and 8 per cent respectively the year before. This can be seen in the context of the overall increase in case volume in 2009, especially among family counselling offices. The circumstances of the parents also influence the time

it takes from parents contacting family counselling to mediation begins. For example, the parents do not always have the time or opportunity to take advantage of the session, thus it becomes delayed. However, in 2009, most cases (71 per cent) started before 3 weeks. Thirty-three per cent of the cases with external mediators started within a week, compared to 9 per cent of cases among family offices.

Six out of ten mediations take only one hour

In 2009, as in 2008, most of the mediations, a total of 63 per cent, were concluded after the one hour which is required. While 54 per cent of mediations by external mediators were concluded after one hour, this applied to 68 per cent of mediations conducted by family counselling offices. This suggests a shorter processing time for mediations by family counselling offices than by external mediators, when the cases have been initiated.

Almost all the cases in 2009 were finished within six months, and 90 per cent were completed during the first two months. This applied to both family offices and external mediators.

Varied use of external mediators

With regard to the use of external mediators, there is great variation between counties. “Sogn og Fjordane” used almost no external mediators in 2009, while over half of all cases of Aust-Agder, Vest-Agder and Vestfold were conducted by external mediation services. Also in Buskerud, Hordaland and Nord-Trøndelag external mediators were involved to a greater extent; by more than 40 per cent of the mediations.

The various forms of external mediations are used to varying degrees, and this varies from year to year. In 2009, there is an increase of 43 per cent from the year before for private practice lawyers, which represents 26 per cent of all external mediators compared with 20 per cent in 2008. Increasing use of lawyers applies primarily to Oslo, Buskerud and Vestfold. This may indicate the start of a trend towards increasing use of lawyers for parental mediation, but it will take more years with comparable figures to confirm this.

For more figures, go to StatBank Norway .

Tables:

• Table 1 Completed mediations, by cause of mediation, mediation authority and county. 2009
• Table 2 Completed mediations, by time from mediation application to first session, mediation authority and county. 2009
• Table 3 Completed mediations, by sessions, mediation authority and county. 2009
• Table 4 Completed mediations, by time of mediation, mediation authority and county. 2009
• Table 5 Completed mediations by external mediations authority, by type of counsellor and county. 2009