Mediation application possibilities in business disputes

Straipsnyje analizuojamos mediacijos taikymo galimybės ginčams, kylantiems iš verslo teisės reguliuojamų santykių, spręsti. Pirmiausia nagrinėjama verslo ginčų sąvoka ir jos turinį formuojantys kriterijai. Aptarus verslo ginčų sampratą, kalbama apie mediacijos taikymo tokiuose ginčuose prielaidas. Taip pat straipsnyje nagrinėjami mediacijos ypatumai, reikšmingi sprendžiant verslo ginčus. Tiriami aktualūs mediacijos metu pasiekto susitarimo vykdymo aspektai. Pagaliau, vadovaujantis užsienio autorių atliktais mokslinių tyrimų rezultatais, išskiriamos teorinės ir praktinės mediacijos taikymo verslo ginčuose problemos ir tiriamos galimos jų sprendimo kryptys.The article analyses mediation and its application possibilities in solving business disputes. Nowadays it’s no secret that business dispute mediation is a flexible, voluntary and, most importantly, non-judgmental method to resolve business disputes. It is oriented towards amicable dispute resolution, and controlled by the parties to the mediation. This Article provides a comprehensive analysis of several core issues and addresses a particular process, business dispute mediation, where the concept of business disputes is analysed. Due to the specifics of business disputes, the author indicates three possible criteria which formulate the content of a business dispute. These criteria involve the dispute resolution mechanism, the subjective structure of a business dispute and finally, the subject matter of the dispute. In accordance with these criteria, the author of the article also suggests a definition of business disputes. After discussing the theoretical basis for the concept of a business dispute, the author analyses another issue that is of special interest to the current discussion. It involves questions regarding the enforceability of settlement agreements that have resulted from business dispute mediation in which the parties have agreed on the relative merits of the dispute. The author of this article provides that in accordance with Lithuanian legal regulations, settlement agreements may be enforced exceptionally by the parties’ good will. The enforceability of settlement agreements is also meaningful at the international level. Scientists and practitioners suggest that voluntary compliance with settlement agreements is insufficient. There is an increasing need for legal mechanisms to facilitate the enforcement of cross border mediation settlement agreements. Whereas no previous business dispute mediation research in national legal literature has been made, a further in-depth analysis of business dispute mediation and its peculiarities is considered to be necessary. It is noticeable that the question of the enforcement of international mediation settlement agreements has been recently posited as an important issue by international organizations. Therefore, the author suggests that the current topic is suitable for a deeper analysis and consideration. The aim of the present article is to analyse business dispute mediation, its processive object, and problematical issues. The research object of the article is mediation in business disputes. Traditional jurisprudence methods, namely the linguistic method, the method of document analysis and the systematic analysis method, were applied in order to achieve the purpose of this research