Necessity of mediation in the public life of Lithuania

This article deals with the problems which emerge during the implementation of mediation in the civil matters of Lithuania. The scope of socio-cultural circumstances in Lithuania nowadays indicates the evident need to adopt mediation as one of the most powerful and effective conflict management procedures. Mediation comes from the historically mature tradition of communitarianism and cooperation in society, it is interconnected with the culture of interactions of individuals and organizations, and it depends on the legal, institutional, and educational environment. Thus, applying mediation isn’t a simple adoption of some activity patterns. The nowadays rapidly changing socio-cultural environment must be analyzed accurately in order to achieve the progress of implementation of mediation. A wide range of areas where mediation is in use in many European countries and overseas shows how promising this direction of peacemaking for society consolidation and its functionality is. Lithuanian society definitely requires mediation for strengthening the integrity and the culture of cooperation. The article investigates the positive and negative factors of the legal, institutional and educational environment in Lithuania, which are vital for the implementation of mediation. Some experimental projects have been conducted lately to probe mediation as a way of conciliation in the courts. The code of judicial mediation was approved by the Council of Courts. Hence we may suggest that one kind of mediation - judicial mediation - has moved. It is not the first year in Lithuania that new projects on conflict resolution and mediation have been launched in schools and the community. The interest for conflict resolution, that has up till now manifested rather spontaneously, signalizes the need in society to learn modern ways of solving complex and intricate problems, managing crises, and disputes by using counselling, negotiation and mediation procedures. What is needed is a conflict resolution pedagogy, which could become an integral part of education of all levels and forms. Different and continuous efforts are necessary for the improvement of legal and institutional mechanisms so that the regulation of different types of disputes and crises becomes an inseparable part not only in legal practice.Straipsnyje aptariamos taikinamojo tarpininkavimo (TT) diegimo problemos. Tai nėra paprastas kelių veiklų perkėlimas iš vienos aplinkos į kitą. TT su įvairiais socialiniais kultūriniais reiškiniais sieja abipusė priklausomybė. TT atsiranda iš istoriškai susiklosčiusių bendruomeniškumo ir bendradarbiavimo tradicijų, jis yra saistomas individų ir grupių sąveikų kultūros, teisinės, institucinės ir edukacinės aplinkos. Jis kyla iš aplinkos ir tą aplinką pamažu keičia. Taikinamasis tarpininkavimas mažina daugelį įtampų, padeda žmonių ir grupių tarpusavio kovą transformuoti į bendradarbiavimą. Jau keli dešimtmečiai jis sėkmingai taikomas viešajame gyvenime įvairiuose pasaulio regionuose ir šalyse. Jo poreikis nuolat pabrėžiamas Europos Sąjungos viešojoje politikoje. Kai kurios ES naujosios narės – visų pirma paminėtinos Slovakija ir Lenkija – jau gerokai pažengė diegdamos mediaciją. Taikinamojo tarpininkavimo aktualumas Lietuvos socialiniame kultūriniame kontekste neabejotinas. Nors pirmieji trumpalaikiai projektai buvo įgyvendinti prieš 15 metų ir buvo kartojami vėliau, šios veiklos adaptuojamos vangiai. Straipsnio tikslas – išskirti ir apžvelgti vadybiniu aspektu pozityvius ir negatyvius socialinės kultūrinės aplinkos veiksnius taikinamajam tarpininkavimui Lietuvoje tarpti