ACR's UMA Principles

A Uniform Mediation Act, if adopted, should be one that would:

1. address only those areas (such as confidentiality) where uniformity is required;

2. preserve party empowerment and self-determination;

3. provide adequate, clear and specific confidentiality protections and, where necessary, limited and clearly defined exceptions that would maintain mediation as an effective confidential process in which people are free to discuss issues without fear of disclosure in legal or investigatory procedures;

4. reflect an understanding of the diversity of mediation styles and range of disputes mediated;

5. are easily understandable to mediation participants;

6. preserve mediation as a process that is separate and distinct from the practice of law, arbitration, and judicial proceedings;

7. provide that mediators may come from a variety of professional and non-professional backgrounds;

8. provide procedural protections for the disputants, the mediator, and the process when exceptions to confidentiality are raised;

9. adequately address how mediators, parties and representatives are to comply, if at all, with mandatory reporting require-ments that may be required by law or professional ethical standards;

10. preserve the impartiality of the mediator; and

11. take into consideration the special concerns raised when the threat of violence is present.