December 2, 2009 -- A new mediation system modelled on traditional conflict-resolution processes in Kabylie has helped more than 1,500 Algerians skirt the nation's overworked courts. "Requests for mediation are increasing all the time," said Ahmed Ali Salah, who heads the Civil and Administrative Affairs division at the Justice Ministry. "The litigating parties in 1,520 cases have accepted the use of legal mediation to settle their disputes." "Legal mediation is beneficial for both the courts and society, given the extremely high number of cases waiting to go to trial," Salah said at a press conference in Algiers on November 3rd.

The new system was started in April. But mediation was already a practice in Kabylie villages, whose residents have long referred family conflicts, quarrels between neighbours and even inheritance issues to a council of elders called the Djemâa. "Each time a problem comes up, it's the elders who step in," said Ammi Akli, who is originally from the Kabylie village of Boghni in Tizi Ouzou. "They're chosen for their honesty, their uprightness and their knowledge of religion and the law." "Their decision is final and people have such respect for them that they never question their decisions," added Akli.

Algeria's judiciary adopted the mediation system as part of a new code governing civil and administrative procedures. People involved in certain kinds of legal disputes now have the choice of going before a judge or working with a mediator. Mediators have a strictly prescribed role in settling conflicts. They must be impartial and cannot intervene in negotiations between parties. The mediator's role is to encourage the parties to discuss their problem and foster a fair and amicable resolution.

"Mediation is a system which has been drawn from Algeria's civil heritage and traditions, which is built on conciliation and the use of elders to settle family and business disputes," said lawyer and legal affairs expert Merouane Azzi. "The system is not foreign to our society." Salah said 1,614 legal mediators had been appointed to handle cases throughout the country.

Melika, mother of an 18-year-old boy, believes that mediation saved her son from having to face a judge after a dispute with a neighbour over parking. "When [the court] directed us to a mediator, I was so relieved," she said. "My son didn't have to go to court, and the neighbour finally accepted mediation. Everything has been sorted out thanks to the advice given by the mediator, who convinced our neighbour that there would be nothing to gain from appearing before the judge."