DCCI introduces business community to the importance of applying ethics in mediation

He stressed while going through the mediation process among the companies or establishments involved in disputes to ensure that trade ties between the disputed parties are not negatively affected and to keep up the commercial deals among them till they reach a satisfactory resolution.

So said by Al Mutaiwee in his opening speech which he delivered at the 'Ethics in Mediation' seminar which the DCCI organized yesterday in cooperation with the Dubai Ethics Resource Center (DERC) with the purpose of introducing businessmen and commercial companies' owners to the importance of applying ethical rules in practicing business and resolving disputes which might occur between them in an ethical way that ensures the rights of the disputed parties. The seminar was attended by Hamad Buamim, the newly-appointed Deputy Director General of the DCCI, Ms. Jehad Kazim, Director of Business Legal Affairs in the DCCI, Ms. Abbe Le Pelley, from DERC, and Mr. Steven Hunt, from Masons Galdari office.

"Organizing this significant seminar comes in the line of the DCCI's strategic plan that aims at supporting its members and the local business community in order to improve their performances and businesses and enhance competitiveness. The 'Ethics in Mediation' seminar provides a good opportunity for our members to learn about mediation and its role in facilitating continuing businesses which are witnessing a huge boom in the UAE,"

said Al Mutaiwee.

He pointed out that the seminar underlined the ethical side of mediation and the ethical principles to which the disputed parties should be committed including the mediators. He noted that the seminar helps the disputed parties prepare themselves to deal with disputes through adopting the best moral principles used in the mediation process including integrity, honesty and transparency. The seminar, he added, helps enhancing awareness about the ethical professional work and the importance of mediation as an alternative effective method to resolve disputes.

The first lecture in the seminar was conducted by Mr. Steven Hunt from Masons Galdari. He talked about the aspects of successful mediation as the best solution to preserve trade relations. He defined mediation as a voluntary, non-binding procedure where a neutral third party is appointed by the parties in dispute to facilitate discussions with the aim of bringing about a negotiated settlement. He added that mediation allows the parties retain full commercial control over the outcome of the dispute and assists them to achieve a flexible and creative solution.

"Mediation, unlike arbitration and litigation, allows the parties to be more directly involved in the dispute resolution process, resulting in their maintaining a greater responsibility for their own issues and a greater control over both the process and the outcome. It also provides a confidential forum for testing to explore other options and to facilitate resolution of the dispute on terms which meet the parties' needs and interests," said Mr. Hunt.

He said that mediation is the most appropriate method of resolving disputes because it encourages a realistic appraisal of the parties' positions, reduces costs, increases speed, permits creative solutions and allows the parties to appoint a mediator in a confidential and risk free climate as well as ensuring the restoration of a good working relationship between the parties.

In another lecture about 'the Organizational Ethics as Part of the Corporate Responsibility Agenda', Ms. Jawaher Al Dossari, Acting Manager of Programs at DERC, defined ethics as the honorable manners of integrity, honesty and respect. She said ethics is the good behavior in the workplace and business practices.

"The organizational ethics is the internal management structures and systems that aim at preventing and detecting misconduct and encourage employee's compliance to ethical standards which can be most functional in the accounting, finance, management and marketing areas," said Ms. Al Dossari.

She noted that the organizational ethics considers social expectations as well as legal compliance in decision making, nurtures ethical leadership and positive organizational culture, encourages professional business conduct and ensures mechanism to detect and deal with issues of corruption and conflicts of interest and employee misconduct.

Two other lectures were conducted in the seminar. The first lecture was conducted by Mr. Omar Obeidat, from Al Tamimi & Co. Advocates & Legal Consultants, in which he talked about 'Ethical Obligations of the Mediator', while the second lecture was handled by Mr. Alexander Zalami, Director of DERC, on the 'Ethical Obligations of the Disputants'.