Family Mediation and Conciliation: Emergence and Integration into the Family Case Proceedings within Juvenile and Family Court

Abstract

his article aims to address the question of how family mediation and conciliation emerged and became an integral part of the family case proceedings within the Juvenile and Family Court. The study examines family mediation and conciliation as a designated process aligned with the family case proceedings in the Juvenile and Family Courts. This is achieved through an analytical review of two groups of documents concerning family mediation and conciliation within the Juvenile and Family Court case proceedings. The first group includes documents related to the Juvenile and Family Court Establishment Act, which reflect the intellectual origins of family mediation and conciliation. The second group consists of documents explaining the family case proceedings in the Juvenile and Family Courts, reflecting stakeholders’ understanding of family mediation and conciliation.

The article proposes four key factors that led to the emergence and integration of mediation and conciliation into family case proceedings: (1) legal provisions creating opportunities for spousal reconciliation; (2) the concept of the “Harmonious and Loving Family” within the broader Juvenile Justice movement; (3) civil case backlogs and the prolonged nature of civil trials; and (4) the construction of dichotomous knowledge between “court litigation” and “mediation and conciliation”. Consideration of these four factors can enhance understanding of family mediation and conciliation from multiple perspectives, including the ideological dimension of the family, their significance to the case proceedings, and approaches to studying family mediation and conciliation that move beyond a binary conceptual framework.