The mediator is the central figure in mediation, who must have the trust of all the parties. In principle, one mediator is appointed in CAfA mediation, unless all the parties express a preference for the appointment of two or more mediators.
List procedure
The main rule set by the CAfA Mediation Rules is that the mediator must be appointed by the parties. The parties may, however, leave the appointment to the NAI as the administrating organisation, in which case the list procedure will be followed. This means that the NAI sends a list of mediators to the parties, with the request to let the NAI know which people are not eligible to be appointed as mediators.
In principle, the NAI will appoint a mediator from the mediators who are acceptable to all parties, but if that is not possible, the NAI has the authority to appoint a mediator who is not on the list that was sent to the parties.
The NAI selects mediators for a certain case based on the request for mediation. The wishes of all parties are also taken into account, if possible.
The mediator will be drawn from the Mediator Pool. Only in the event of compelling reasons, the NAI administrator in consultation with the CAfA Board, may appoint a mediator from outside the Mediator Pool.
Court of Arbitration for Art Selection Criteria Arbitrators & Mediators
Arbitrator Criteria
1. (formerly) admitted private practice lawyers, judges, law professors.
2. 5 years of significant experience in at least one relevant field, including (without limitation):
(a) authenticity;
(b) chain of title of art or cultural property (including heritage/patrimony/restitution);
(c) purchase and sale of works of art through private sale and/or auction;
(d) copyright in the field of art;
(e) insurance of fine art or cultural property;
(f) museum exhibition and loan agreements;
(g) loan agreements (non-museum);
(h) UNESCO;
(i) taxation, trusts, estates & succession;
(j) import/export regulations; and/or
(k) international arbitration.
Mediator Criteria
1. same criteria as arbitrators.
2. 5 years of significant experience as mediator.
3. advanced mediation training or certification from mediation-organizations such as the International Mediation Institute and/or membership in roster of recognized ADR provider or Court ADR Program.
CAfA mediator Pool
The CAfA mediator pool can be found here.
CAfA is accepting applications from candidate mediators to be considered for placement in the CAfA mediator pool. In order to ensure that the mediators obtain the desired level of (art law) experience, CAfA established a set of selection criteria. These selection criteria can be downloaded here. CAfA invites those persons that consider themselves to meet these criteria to make an application through submission of an application form, that can be filled out here for mediators after registration of your e-mail address.
All applications will be reviewed by a selection committee. The selection committee will propose candidates for placement into the arbitrator pool to CAfA. Following submissions of applications, the candidates will receive a confirmation thereof and successful candidates will be inserted in the arbitrator pool, which will be published online. By submissions of applications, candidates agree that their data is being processed by CAfA, the NAI and the AiA.
Secretary
The mediator may be assisted by a secretary, unless the parties object to the secretary’s presence.