Introduction

Four years ago, in early 2011, a group of legal sociologists and theorists associated with the Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution at the Faculty of Law and Administration of Jagiellonian University was discussing issues concerning the development of mediation in Poland, its present state and prevailing perspectives. Early in the discus-sion, a shared belief emerged that alternative methods in general, and mediation in particular, play a somewhat secondary role in Poland, as opposed to countries such as the US or those of Western Europe. There was a plethora of disparate opinions, sometimes colloquial in character, on reasons for the present state of affairs and possible ways forward. The discussion led to an initial characterisation of associated research problems, which differed both in source and nature. In identifying these main research problems, the members of the research team became aware of the need to enhance the interdisciplinary dimension of the research by including representatives of legal dogmatics related to legal procedures in which mediation and other methods of ADR play a pivotal role in other jurisdictions. The procedures in question were civil, criminal, administrative and judicial-administrative procedure. The emphasis on the project’s interdisciplinary character led to a broadening of the scope of the planned investigations, embracing three perspectives: theoretical-conceptual, dogmatic and empirical. At the same time, the range of ADR forms of interest expanded, although mediation remained central