Possibilities of applying mediation in the notary practice

Surasti vienareikšmišką atsakymą į klausimą, ar notaras gali vykdyti mediaciją, nėra lengva. Gali būti nemažai atvejų, kai notarų veiklą reglamentuojantys teisės aktai apribos notaro kaip mediatoriaus galimybes siekti ginčo šalių tarpusavio sutarimo. Notaras, kaip mediatorius, negalėtų konsultuoti siūlydamas savo sprendimą, o taip dažnai notarai daro savo veikloje. Šiuo tyrimu siekiama nustatyti mediacijos vietą notaro veikloje: ar notaras turi teisę būti mediatoriumi ir kokias galimybes būti jam mediatoriumi suteikia notaro statusas? Pirmoje straipsnio dalyje ieškant atsakymo į klausimą, ar notaras turi teisę būti mediatoriumi, nagrinėjamos notaro vykdomos mediacijos teisinės prielaidos, taip pat analizuojamos mediacijos taikymo užuomazgos notaro veikloje, notaro vykdoma sutartinė mediacija ir konflikto mediacija. Antroje straipsnio dalyje analizuojama, kokias galimybes notarui būti mediatoriumi suteikia notaro statusas, akcentuojant, kad neutralumas ir nešališkumas, nepriklausomumas nuo kitų asmenų, atsakomybė už savo atliekamus veiksmus, konfidencialumas – tai bruožai, kurie būdingi tiek lotyniškojo tipo notariato veiklai, tiek mediacijai.Finding a forthright answer to the question whether a notary can practice mediation is not an easy task. There may be many cases when notariat law standards limit possibilities of a notary as a mediator to achieve agreement between parties. A notary as a mediator would not be able to consult by offering their solution which often happens in contract law. Therefore, this paper aims to find an answer to the question on the role of mediation in the notary practice. In the first part of the Article, in order to find the answer to the question whether a notary is entitled to be a mediator, the legal basis of mediation practiced by a notary is analysed. It should be noted that in most European Union countries national legislators endorsed the possibility to apply mediation procedure in notary profession. Those country members’ initiatives were encouraged by the political wishes of the European Union institutions to improve citizens’ access to justice and the recommendation of the Council of the Notariats of the European Union to expand the competence of country members to notaries by applying mediation procedure. After assessing legal assumptions of mediation performed by a notary, the conclusion is made in the article that mediation procedure performed by a notary as a legal professional would encourage greater trust in mediation as well as in its use in practice. It is also noticed that some notaries of the EU countries (Germany, Austria, Belgium, Slovenia) perform not only within the limits of main competence to make sure that there are no illegal transactions, but also in additional competence to implement mediation procedure within the limits of legal assistance. Mediation elements within the limits of notary competences are also analysed by revealing the differences between contractual mediation and conflict mediation practiced by a notary. After analysing mediation performed by notaries (both concerted mediation and conflict mediation) within the limits of official notarial practice, the conclusion is made that every notarial action is followed by depolarisation of different positions of the parties. This way notary’s actions are a part of mediation procedure in the process of determining the actual will of the parties. In the second part of the article, the possibilities that the notary status provides to the notary aiming to be a mediator are analysed by emphasizing that absolute neutrality and impartiality, independence from other people, responsibility for one’s performed actions are the features naturally common to both Latin type notarial practice and mediation