Legal Regulation of Administrative Mediation : A Study of the French Administrative Procedural System

Abstract

Abstract

Due to the overwhelming backlog of cases and complicated judicial procedures, much modern legislation have adopted an alternative means and methods to resolve cases out of the courts. This aim to avoid the court but only as a last resort in which alternative methods fail to satisfy the parties.

These means and methods have been recognized by legal systems long time ago with no role and involvement of the courts such as mediation, arbitration, conciliation, or other methods. However, recently these methods have evolved with taking new model. For instance, the French legislator in the administrative justice code considered these means and methods within the judicial procedure with having the court a big role in its regulation. The administrative justice code introduced a new framework concerning mediation as an alternative solution to litigation before administrative courts. In this new model, the administrative judge is given a crucial role in resorting these means including proposing it, choosing the mediator, and approving the result. Furthermore, similar to the administrative petition, the legislator stipulated that mediation might cut off the deadline of filing the administrative lawsuit. In particular situations, the legislator made mediation a prerequisite for accepting a lawsuit before the judiciary in which the administrative case will be rejected unless preceded by mediation.