On January 16, the President of the Arbitration and Mediation Center of the Brazil-Canada Chamber of Commerce (CAM-CCBC) issued a resolution (RA 36/2019) offering a discount on the administrative fee charged in connection with CAM-CCBC mediation proceedings. RA 36/2019 describes the circumstances in which such a discount can be given.
RA 36/2019 takes into consideration the fact that Mediation is an important non-confrontational dispute resolution method that is intended to preserve the relationship between the parties.
The discount on the mediation administrative fee can be given in two circumstances (RA 36/2019, section 1): The first circumstance is when arbitration proceedings are commenced with CAM-CCBC after the mediation proceedings. In this case, parties are given 100% discount. The parties will be entitled to the discount upon the filing of the arbitration proceedings, provided that it is so filed within 12 months from the date of execution of the mediation Closing Statement. The second circumstance is when the parties to an arbitration request suspension of the arbitral proceedings and commence mediation proceedings. In this case, a 50% discount is given.
So, any mediation that precedes arbitral proceedings will have zero administrative fee and any mediation commenced during a suspended arbitration will have a 50% administrative fee.
In the first circumstance (mediation preceding arbitration), the parties will be entitled to the discount at the time of payment of the arbitration proceedings costs. In the second circumstance (arbitration preceding mediation), the parties will be entitled to the discount at the time of payment of the mediation costs.
Only cases with the same object and parties in both mediation and arbitration proceedings will be eligible for discount. No discount will be given under RA 36/2019 on Mediators’ Fees and on the expenses incurred by CAM-CCBC during procedure. In addition, under RA 36/2019, only the parties which have provisioned the relevant amounts will be eligible for discount.
The purpose behind RA 36/2019 is to promote mediation as an alternative to the judicial proceedings and a method designed to preserve the good relationship between the parties. The discount offered by CAM-CCBC under RA 36/2019 favors mediation in so far as it gives the parties the opportunity to mediate either with no administrative cost at all or by half the amount of such costs. Thus, parties that are considering commencing arbitration proceedings with CAM-CCBC can now contemplate the opportunity to first mediate, without administrative costs. Likewise, parties to ongoing arbitrations can now consider mediating with reduced administrative costs.
