The Tongan Judiciary has introduced a new court procedure, to enable disputing parties to negotiate out-of-court settlements through mediation.

The Mediation Procedure was introduced on April 12 and to date it has dealt with a total of eight civil cases.

Sione Taione, one of Tonga's two mediators, said today that out of the eight cases they have processed so far, "six were settled out of court, one did not reach a settlement, which means that the case was referred back to court, and the other was adjourned to October."

The most common type of cases which proceeded to Mediation have been disputes between two parties, mainly between employers and employees.

Land disputes have also been attracted to find a settlement through the Mediation Procedure. Sione said that there are three pending land cases that will be referred for mediation in October.

Linda Folaumoetu'i, the Solicitor General, said that civil cases are eligible for referral to the Mediation Procedure, "but it has to be with the consent of both parties involved."

Defamation cases

Chief Justice Anthony Ford in a special address to the Media Council of Tonga on defamation in general and on the Tongan Defamation Law in particular, on September 14 said that the introduction of Mediation is one important developments of the Tongan judicial system.

He said mediation involved the use of expertly trained mediators and Tonga has two mediators, who were trained in Sydney and Wellington. (Tonga's two mediators are Feleti Tuita and Sione Taione.)

Mr Justice Ford also clarified that a case could only be dealt with under the Mediation Procedure with the consent of both parties, and to date the mediation process has resulted in a high level of out-of court settlements.

He believed that the process is suitable to negotiate settlement of defamation litigations, but to date no defamation case has been referred for Mediation.

"I know, from my experience with mediation in New Zealand that the process is entirely suited to such cases and I would hope that in the near future we will see some of the many pending defamation actions settled in this way," the Chief Justice told members of the Media Council of Tonga.