Abstract:
The objectives of this research journal are (1) to study the problems and obstacles of mediation by mediators in the court of justice (2) to study the concept of professional mediators from the private organization JAMS, California, to improve mediation as a dispute resolution system of the court of justice towards greater performance. This research is a qualitative research consisting of documentary research and interviewing experts in the field of dispute resolution via mediation, in which the diverse sample consist of judges in high court of justice, including executives charged with policymaking, those who have been in service for over 20 years, court of justice officials, high executives, mediators, senior lawyers with over 20 years of experience, academics and senior instructors, doctors, and enterprisers from private limited corporations.
The result of this study finds that:
1. Mediators in court of justice who are appointed to the disputing parties still have many limitations in mediating high-value disputes which often are complicated both in legal and technical terms, due to lack of improvement in knowledge in various fields, and due to the fact that they are merely outsourced personnel who have volunteered to serve as mediators, not professional mediators whose job demands high accountability and devotion to duty, which therefore is not conductive to the development of their potential;
2. JAMS is the worlds largest private corporation that offers a service in dispute resolution via mediation, which has been founded in the United States of America since B.E. 2522 and serves to resolve an estimate of 12,000 disputes per year (data from B.E. 2557), 70 percent of which are civil, commercial, and intellectual property related. The organization has a strength in personnel; it has mediators who possess both seniority and experience, and have diverse knowledge and expertise capable of fulfilling the needs of disputing parties. In addition, having systematic rules and procedures and having a mediator training and development unit, called JAMS Training & Development Department, creates a dynamic culture of learning within the organization;
3. Professional mediators should be provided in the court of justice, as it will improve mediation as a dispute resolution system towards greater performance, offering an alternative for the disputing parties in place of conciliators. This requires a professional regulatory body, called the Association of Thai Professional Mediator A.T.P.M, whose duty is to enact rules and procedures in a systematic manner, in order to ensure professional standard both in ethics and competencies for professional mediators, as well as to conduct follow-up evaluations.