Abstract:

Mediation as a self-composing tool for conflict resolution has become a current national and international topic for the past few years due to the raising awareness of the need to de-judicialise conflicts not only by public authorities, but also by some legal agents and even by the citizenry. The reason for this trend is the dissatisfaction that the jurisdictional response offers as both parties normally lose in one way or another and, based on confrontation coordinates, the person ruling is an outsider and disinterested third party. These latter conditions are inexcusable for judges—or for arbitrators, where applicable—in order to perform their function but they are unsatisfactory for those involved, who want greater prominence and control over their affairs and problems. In addition, it must not be overlooked that there is an interest in the justice administration to decongest the workload of the courts and divert a part of the cases to other solution systems which should not be overlooked.

It is interesting to see how, in comparative law, mediation is an already well-established institution and even more interestingly is the multitude of international instruments that refer to it, as well as the practical experience that countries as close to us such as France have. Despite this, our legal system compared to these other countries is gradually and slowly incorporating laws and regulations that make mediation possible in different domains.

With the legislation currently in force, speaking of university mediation in Spain means associating this instrument either with a university service or body or with the University Ombudsman who -while being permitted to conduct mediation pursuant to Organic Law 6/2001 enacted on the 21st of December on Universities- cannot always do so as they lack the necessary resources and knowledge. If the conflict can be solved by the University Ombudsman, in most cases the solution involves a conciliation procedure that, while having in common with mediation the will of the parties, is very different from it, by proposing the solution agreement and not seeking, as a purpose, to end the scale of conflict and to contribute to the improvement of coexistence.

The goal of this work is to substantiate how mediation can be used in Spain with a two-fold purpose: as an instrument to solve conflicts at the university level and as an educational innovation tool for the acquisition of skills that improve coexistence.

Keywords:

university mediation, implementation, social peace.