Mediation as a dispute resolution process is not appropriate for everyone or every case. Mediation is not the panacea for all ills and, in respect of child abduction cases under the Hague Convention, in some quarters it may be seen as an anathema to the process. It may be suited to some cases while there are other cases which must be litigated. It becomes a matter of identifying which category a case falls into.
Mediation provides an olive branch for many families to solve the source of the problem and provide a constructive outcome for the family moving forward. Mediation offers an opportunity to resolve the entire dispute, or it may be engaged for more discrete aspects of a Convention / non Convention case such as negotiating the terms and conditions of the return of the child(ren) to the home State. In some cases however the level of antipathy between the parties (highly conflicted relationship and an intractable dispute) is such that mediation will not be on the table as a viable option to be contemplated.
Partner, Geoff Wilson presented this paper at the IAML Hague Symposium Buenos Aires 2013.