On November 26, 2022, the CEMA held a webinar on international family mediation, with Danièle Ganancia and Isabelle Copé-Bessis. Only my talk, on the legal framework of mediation, is featured here: the player starts at my segment and stops at its end. The webinar is in French.
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A legal framework that encourages mediation
The Hague Conventions call for amicable solutions. The 1980 Convention on international child abduction asks Central Authorities to help bring about an amicable resolution (Art. 7); the 1996 Convention on parental responsibility asks them to facilitate agreed solutions through mediation (Art. 31).
The Brussels II ter Regulation goes further, with a full article on alternative dispute resolution rather than a mere recital: as early as possible and at any stage, the court invites the parties to consider mediation, unless this is contrary to the child’s best interests, inappropriate, or would unduly delay the proceedings (Art. 25).
Two good-practice texts complete the framework: the Hague Conference Guide to Good Practice on mediation, and the Charter for International Family Mediation Processes. The Charter provides, among other things, that mediation is voluntary, that decisions belong to the participants, and that each of them must have access to specialized, independent legal advice.
Securing the mediation
The other country may know mediation but see it very differently. Common rules must therefore be set at the outset, in the agreement to mediate: the language, the venue, and above all confidentiality, its scope and its terms. Does it cover only what is said in session, or also exchanges between sessions, written points of agreement, documents?
An agreement recognized in both countries
The goal is an agreement recognized in each country involved. It must comply with each country’s mandatory rules and with the child’s best interests, which the judge will review. Approval in both countries yields two identical, enforceable decisions. Within the EU, an approval decision travels more easily. Where the lawyers took part in the mediation, the agreement can also take the form of a deed countersigned by lawyers, declared enforceable by the court registry.
Key takeaways
- The 1980 and 1996 Hague Conventions and the Brussels II ter Regulation encourage international family mediation.
- Each participant must have access to specialized, independent legal advice.
- The agreement to mediate sets common rules, confidentiality first among them.
- The agreement must be recognized in each country: approval in both, or a lawyer-countersigned deed declared enforceable.
What has changed since
In 2022, I referred to Article 1568 of the French Code of Civil Procedure, introduced by the decree of February 25, 2022, under which the court registry could declare enforceable a mediated agreement recorded in a deed countersigned by lawyers. That article was repealed on September 1, 2025 (historical version). The rule now appears in Article 1546 of the Code of Civil Procedure, introduced by Decree No. 2025-660 of July 18, 2025, which extends it to any lawyer-countersigned deed recording a settlement, even one not reached through mediation.
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