Roundtable Breakfast - Turkey: Failed in VOM; Headed for Paradise in Civil Mediation?

Turkey: Failed in VOM,

Headed for paradise in civil mediation?

Dr. Idil Elveris

Turkey first introduced mediation in 2005 when it adopted a new criminal code encouraging victim offender mediation that was supposed to work as a diversion mechanism and reduce the workload of judges.  The legal basis for this mediation was challenged by the lack of infrastructure, referral processes, monitoring of mediators or training, and public awareness about the process. Undeterred, Turkey recently adopted a new law on civil mediation. This session will address lessons learned from the victim offender experience and the promises of the law on civil mediation.

Dr. Idil Elveris graduated from Istanbul University School of Law in 1996. She obtained her LLM degree from Tulane University in 1998 and her PHD in Political Science from Istanbul Bilgi University. She practiced as a lawyer and legal consultant in New York, Kosovo, UK and Istanbul. She joined Istanbul Bilgi University in 2003 and has pioneered legal clinics in Turkey. In 2005, she became a mediator certified by the ADR Group in London. Her areas of interest and teaching include access to justice, poverty and law, judiciary, mediation, justice system and courts.