Legal Framework

The Law on Mediation Procedure (Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina, no. 37/04) regulates the rules and principles of mediation procedure in disputes, conditions of payment of costs for mediation and conditions for becoming a mediator.

The Law on Transfer of Mediation Services to the Association of Mediators (Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina no. 52/05) regulates procedure of transfer of mediation services to the associations of citizens. The associations submit the request to the Ministry of Justice of BiH, which if conditions are met, starts the legislative procedure to introduce new association in the law. For now, the Law transferred the services only to the Association of Mediators in BiH.

The Mediation Rules of the Association of Mediators in BiH (Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina no. 21/06):

1. The Rule on Roster of Mediators – regulates conditions for registration of mediators, keeping the registry book and deletion of mediators from the registry
2. The Rule on the List of Mediators – regulates the content and publication of the lists of mediators to be accessible to the parties
3. The Rule on Case Referral – regulates initiation of the mediation process, related procedures and selection of mediators
4. The Code of Mediators’ Ethics – norms on professional conduct of mediators
5. The Rule on Mediators’ Liability for Damage Caused in Mediation Process – regulates conditions and liability for damage caused to the parties by illegal activities
6. The Rule on Disciplinary Liability of a Mediator – regulates disciplinary liability of a mediator, types of disciplinary violations, disciplinary procedure and sanctions
7. The Rule on Costs of Mediation – regulates the costs of mediation process and mediators’ fee
8. The Rule on Mediation Training – regulates the training programme of the Association of Mediators in BiH

Law on Civil Procedure before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina no. 36/04) – Article 53.
Law on Civil Procedure of Federation of BiH (Official Gazette of Republika Srpska no. 58/03) – Article 86.
Law on Civil Procedure of Federation of BiH (Official Gazette of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina no. 53/03) – Article 86.

The articles of these laws regulate that the judge can propose and the parties can initiate mediation procedure.

Criminal Code of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina no. 35/03) – Article 212.
Criminal Code of Republika Srpska (Official Gazette of Republika Srpska no. 20/04) – Article 108.

The articles regulate mediation procedure in cases of legal-property claims, where the judge can propose and the parties can initiate mediation procedure.

Family Law of Federation of BiH (Official Gazette of Federation of BiH no. 38/05) regulating mediation in cases of divorce in terms of parental care, contact with parent not living with the child and alimony.

Law on mediation procedure in BiH