CRCE and CCIS hold sectoral mediation training for professionals

The Centre for the Resolution of Business Conflicts (CRCE), together with the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services (CCIS), ran two days of sectoral training to promote mediation as an alternative to litigation. The sessions targeted professional bodies including engineers, architects and insurers, and also provided training for members of the Superior Council of the Judiciary, bailiffs and the Bar Association.

This is the second round of sector-focused meetings organised by the CRCE; earlier sessions addressed the real estate sector. The workshops were led by María Bacas, a business mediator, specialist in agreement management and lawyer at the Madrid Bar, and Ana María Carrascosa, a magistrate and legal officer at Spain’s General Council of the Judiciary who oversees intrajudicial mediation programmes.

Jordina Ticó, secretary legal officer of the Chamber and head of the CRCE, said the goal is to raise professionals’ awareness of alternatives to court proceedings. She highlighted mediation’s capacity to shorten timelines, protect future relationships, and preserve the parties’ reputations and confidentiality.

Bacas stressed that mediation does not weaken the parties but empowers them to reach tailored agreements that reflect their interests and needs, rather than producing outcomes determined solely by legal criteria in court. Both speakers noted persistent ignorance among professionals and the public about what mediation entails and the advantages it can offer over judicial routes.

Carrascosa called for broader public education and outreach, proposing that mediation be introduced early through school projects so it becomes a familiar tool. She also urged more training for the public and legal professionals to recognise that the law is not always the best or sole solution to every dispute.

The CRCE said it will continue to promote mediation through talks and sectoral meetings, explaining how different professions can use it and how to incorporate it into practice to speed up and simplify extrajudicial conflict resolution, improve efficiency and effectiveness, and secure satisfactory outcomes for the parties involved.