Legislative amendments to the Mediation Law 192/2006 by Law 154/2019

Posted by Tudorache Laurentiu on

By Law 154 /24.07.2019, several additions to the Mediation Law 192/2006 and implicitly the judicial procedure are brought.

Here we will briefly present the issues of major interest to those who practice legal professions as well as to public opinion.

  1. The new art 58 paragraph (2 ^ 1) gives the Mediation Agreement the legal power of enforceable title.
    • The mediation agreement verified and certified by the parties’ lawyers, the notary public or by a lawyer or notary public chosen by the mediator with the agreement of the parties is an enforceable title.
    • (on 29-07-2019, Article 58 of Section 4, Chapter V was completed by Point 11, Article I of LAW No. 154 of July 24, 2019, published in OFFICIAL MONITOR no. 623 of July 26, 2019)
  2. According to the new provisions found in Article 59 (2 ^ 1) any part of the mediation agreement, alone or together with the other party, may be presented to the notary for its authentication. This, however, is not mandatory if the parties address the request of the court, remaining at the discretion of the judge if they consider their personal presence necessary, being expressly cited in this regard.
    • The parties or the interested party can appear at the notary public to authenticate the mediation agreement.
    • (on 29-07-2019, Article 59 of Section 4, Chapter V was supplemented by Item 14, Article I of LAW No. 154 of July 24, 2019, published in OFFICIAL MONITOR no. 623 of July 26, 2019)
    • (2 ^ 2) The judge, if he deems it necessary, requests the presence of all parties.
    • (on 29-07-2019, Article 59 of Section 4, Chapter V was supplemented by Item 14, Article I of LAW No. 154 of July 24, 2019, published in OFFICIAL MONITOR no. 623 of July 26, 2019)
  3. The obligation of the parties to prove that they have tried the amicable settlement of the conflict is introduced (proof) which can be done either with the Mediation Agreement accompanied by the Mediation Closing Minute or by the Mediation Completed Minutes. .
    • By point 16 of Law 154/2019, it is introduced in Law 192/2006, art 61 paragraph 3, consisting of the obligation of the applicant and the defendant to prove that they tried the amicable settlement of the dispute, at the moment of sending the request for a call. in court.
    • Otherwise, according to the following paragraph, the court will ask both the plaintiff and the defendant to submit this evidence until the first trial.
    • In which cases is this obligation imposed:
    • Article 60 ^ 1
    • Alin (1):
      • a) in the field of consumer protection
      • b) in the matter of family law, in the situations provided in art. 64;
      • ! Note: A very important aspect, as a novelty in cases of family law litigation, is the new art 65 paragraph (2), according to which the Supervisory Authority The competent authority shall draw up and release, at the request of the mediator with which the parties have concluded the contract or at the request of either party, the psychosocial investigation report, which is communicated to the applicant.
      • on 29-07-2019, Article 65 of Section 1, Chapter VI was completed by Point 18, Article I of LAW No. 154 of July 24, 2019, published in OFFICIAL MONITOR No. 623 of July 26, 2019
      • c) in the field of disputes regarding possession, guarding, relocation, as well as any other disputes relating to neighborhood relationships;
      • d) in the field of professional liability in which professional liability can be employed, respectively the causes of malpraxis, insofar as no special procedure is provided for by special laws;
      • e) in labor disputes arising from the conclusion, execution and termination of individual employment contracts;
      • f) in civil litigation whose value is less than 50,000 lei, except in litigation issued an enforceable decision to open the insolvency procedure, the actions regarding the trade register and the cases in which the parties choose to resort to the procedure provided in art. 1.013-1.024 or to the one provided in art. 1.025-1.032 of Law no. 134/2010, republished, as subsequently amended and supplemented;
    • Proof of trying the mediation procedure can be done in the following variants:
    • – Information Certificate , which was issued to you only after the parties (both the complainant and the defendant) went through the information hearing,
    • – Closing minutes of the mediation procedure, signed by the parties and the mediator in the following situations:
    • – following the conclusion of an agreement between the parties regarding the resolution of the conflict;
      1. following the failure of mediation;
      1. by denouncing the mediation contract by one of the parties.
    • – By way of exception, the evidence of the mediation procedure being tried by the applicant will be considered as being fulfilled by submitting to the case file the non-presentation report of one of the parties, drawn up by the mediator, only in the situation in which the defendant receives the invitation to mediation.
    • is NOT evidence of the mediation attempt , if:
      1. one of the parties refuses to participate in mediation in writing;
      2. one of the parties does not respond to the invitation;
      3. one of the parties does not appear on the date set for mediation.
    • In these cases, a Minutes are drawn up that find that the mediation is not accepted . This report is distinct from the Mediation Closing Report and does not constitute evidence of the mediation attempt .
    • The briefing on the benefits of mediation is the stage prior to the conclusion of the mediation contract, contained in the mediation procedure, whereby the mediator analyzes the conflict and presents to the parties the advantages of calling the mediation procedure for their specific conflict, giving them all the necessary information in order to to help and determine the parties, in full agreement and knowledge of the case, to accept the settlement of disagreements between them through mediation.
    • (Article 2 of Chapter I was supplemented by Point 2, Article I of LAW No. 154 of July 24, 2019, published in OFFICIAL MONITOR No. 623 of July 26, 2019)
    • (2 ^ 3) Information certificate is the document issued by the mediator following the information session on the benefits of mediation for all parties involved in the mediation. conflict , if they decide they do not want the mediation contract signed. The information certificate is issued free of charge to all parties involved.
  4. Special provisions on mediation in criminal cases
    1. The new paragraph (2) of art 67 conditions the conclusion of the mediation agreement by the acknowledgment of the fact by the author.
    2. (on 10-04-2019, Paragraph (2) of Article 67, Section 2, Chapter VI was amended by Article II of EMERGENCY ORDER No. 24 of April 3, 2019 , published in OFFICIAL MONITOR No. 274 of April 10, 2019)
  5. By art 60 ^ 2, the maximum term for the information stage and the conflict analysis within the mediation procedure is delimited, including the formalities for convening the parties, which cannot exceed 15 calendar days .
    1. (on 29-07-2019, Paragraph (1) of Article 60 ^ 2, Section 4, Chapter V was amended by Item 15, Article I of LAW No. 154 of July 24, 2019 , published in OFFICIAL MONITOR No. 623 of July 26, 2019)
  6. Return of stamp duty
    1. Except in cases where the conflict resolved is related to the transfer of the property right, the establishment of another real right over a real estate, shares and succession causes, in which case 50 percent refund will be refunded from the tax paid, in all other cases, according to the new art 63 paragraph (2), the obligation of the full refund of the stamp duty paid for the court’s investment is introduced.
    2. (on 29-07-2019, Paragraph (2) of Article 63, Section 5, Chapter V was amended by Item 17, Article I of LAW No. 154 of July 24, 2019, published in OFFICIAL MONITOR No. 623 of July 26, 2019)