Six local Tongan law practitioners received mediation training last week from Tonga’s Lord Chief Justice Owen Paulsen and from one of New Zealand’s leading mediators John Hardie. They were trained to assist people in resolving disputes quickly and inexpensively, rather than having cases go unnecessarily to court.

CJ Paulsen said that mediation has never taken off in Tonga but in other countries it has grown rapidly over the last 20-years and is widely considered to be the preferred means of resolving disputes because it is confidential, voluntary and much less expensive than litigation through the courts. 

“Too many cases are unnecessarily going to hearing in the Supreme Court and Land Court that would be resolved more quickly and inexpensively by mediation."

His intention in promoting the workshop was to have a pool of enthusiastic trained mediators available to law practitioners and the public ready to assist people resolve their disputes as an alternative to court proceedings. 

"I think we have achieved that.”

Mediation is a process where people who have a dispute are helped to resolve that dispute by agreement, with the assistance of a mediator through open communication and exchange of information.

The emphasis is upon the participants educating each other about their respective perspectives and interests and then jointly finding options as to how those needs may be met. 

The intensive training program was designed by the Resolution Institute of Australia teaching the institute’s model of mediation, where participants gained the knowledge, skills and ethical understandings to seek accreditation as mediators and begin conducting mediations in Tonga.

Participants who completed the training included Dana Stephenson, Petunia Tupou, Rere Stephenson, Sione Fonua, David Corbett and Owen Pau’u.