The role of mediation in the resolution of public-legal disputes: the experience of Ukraine, the Great Britain and the EU

The article is devoted to the study of the role of mediation in resolving public law disputes. The author studies problematic issues regarding the use of mediation in administrative proceedings, studies the experience of Ukraine and the European Union and, on this basis, provides recommendations for improving Ukrainian legislation in accordance with the requirements of today’s realities. The article draws attention to the tasks of administrative proceedings – the protection of the rights, freedoms and interests of individuals and legal entities from violations by subjects of government authority. According to the author, mediation is a tool that will help to fairly resolve a public-legal dispute through peaceful negotiations with the parties. The article emphasizes that in the conditions of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the number of disputes where the party is a subject of power is increasing, therefore such an institution as mediation will be able to positively influence the judicial branch of power, because it will relieve it. The author highlights the problems on the way to the active application of pre-trial dispute resolution in Ukraine – the lack of authority of officials to initiate mediation, low legal culture of citizens and, as a result, the rejection of mediation. The focus is on the positive aspects of mediation – saving time, money, fulfilling the terms of the mediation agreement, increasing trust in the authorities, reducing the burden on the courts – is emphasized. In order to improve the current legislation, attention is drawn to the positive experience of such states as Poland, Great Britain, and Italy. In conditions of martial law, the introduction of the novelties specified in the article would have a positive impact on the resolution of disputes in which officials are parties. The article notes that mediators are a kind of «assistant of the court». The active use of mediation to resolve public law disputes will allow the subject of power to independently settle similar disputes in the future on the basis of a mediation agreement that was concluded to resolve a similar dispute. The article suggests introducing the possibility of free appeal to a mediator for the most vulnerable segments of the population during martial law – military personnel, persons with disabilities as a result of the war, family members of deceased soldiers, and internally displaced persons. Since Ukraine aspires to become a full member of the European Union, mediation is the most democratic procedure for resolving disputes with the participation of an official. Therefore, its active use is an important task of today.