On Court Mediation System Reform

In recent years, the reform and improvement of civil justice system has been a hot issue in academic debates about the Civil Law. The court mediation system reform is just an important part of the reform. In China, the court mediation system has a long history as a disputes settlement mechanism for diverse conflicts, and it is important in resolving social disputes, maintaining social stability, and promoting social harmony. However, with the social development and social disputes showing new features, existing court mediation system can no longer meet the needs of the time, and it has exposed many problems to be resolved. The first part of the study states the status quo of the mediation system and the research's implication. The second part compares the court mediation and judgment systems. Combining LuoCaiXia's case, it analyzes and shows the advantages of mediation system, such as fastness, efficiency, and amenity to argue for its necessity and superiority. Through a historical review of court mediation system in three main stages of ancient China, the new-democratic revolution, and the new China, we could know the important role mediation system plays in dispute resolution in Chinese long history, and its far-reaching implications for China's civil law. The third part explains the problems encountered in codes of mediation system itself and in practices of the court judicial system. After a comprehensive examining of the drawbacks, the study shows the necessity of reforming court mediation system. Finally the author proposes several suggestions including limiting period of mediation, improving supervising and restraining mechanisms, and promoting the idea of big mediation system reform for references.