GROUNDS FOR THE CONCILIATION PROCEDURE

This conciliation procedure (conciliation service) is a mediation procedure that takes place on the basis of the Conciliation Act, also applying the provisions of the State Family Conciliation Services Act, taking into account the specifications of the Conciliation Act.

These conciliation proceedings are to be regarded as pre-trial proceedings and negotiations within the meaning of § 167 and specified in clause 160 (2) 4) of the General Part of the Civil Code Act.

The limitation period is suspended by the submission of an application by the entitled person in the pre-trial proceedings provided by law, regardless of whether the decision is enforceable in the proceedings, or during negotiations between the entitled and obligated persons, if negotiations are held. Negotiations are presumed to be over if the person refuses to continue the negotiations.

A conciliation procedure is an activity based on the voluntary nature of the parties, in the course of which an impartial person (hereinafter the Conciliator) supports the communication between the parties to the conciliation in order to help them find a solution to the dispute. The conciliator may, on the basis of the circumstances of the conciliation and the progress of the conciliation proceedings, submit a proposal for a solution to the parties.

If in the conciliation procedure there is an agreement on the further life of the minor child and / or co-operation of the parents in raising the child, a procedure is conducted through the Conciliator, as a result of which the conciliation parties may agree on in matters relating to the right of access to a child provided for in the Family Law Act or the maintenance of a minor child.

The following conditions set out the basis for the conciliation procedure. The following conditions set out the basis for the conciliation procedure. In addition to the following conditions, I am guided by the laws of the Republic of Estonia and the Code of Professional Conduct for Conciliators.

Please read each point carefully, note any questions you have and ask them at the first session

At the first session, you will be offered the opportunity to sign an agreement (the “Agreement”) confirming that you understand the conciliation process and the terms and conditions set out below and undertake to comply with them.

For my part, I also sign the Agreement to confirm my commitment and responsibility to comply with the Agreement, the Code of Professional Conduct for Conciliators and the laws of the Republic of Estonia.

I will now explain to you the conditions on which the conciliation proceedings are based (Basis: § 7 of the Conciliation Act – Obligation to explain):

I. I. THE CONCILIATION PROCEDURE IS OPTIONAL
1. The conciliation procedure is voluntary. You choose to take part in conciliation because you want to resolve the family out of court if possible.
2. You have the right to terminate the conciliation proceedings at any time. However, I hope that before deciding to close the conciliation procedure, you want to share with me the reasons for such a decision.
3. I, too, have the right to terminate the conciliation proceedings if I see that the commencement or continuation of the conciliation proceedings will not help to resolve your family problem.
4. In certain cases, I have the right to involve a co-conciliator If the involvement of a conciliator entails additional financial costs for you, I will ask you in advance for your prior written consent to be involved.
5. If there is a need for set-off in the conciliation proceedings, I ask both parties to the conciliation to provide me with a complete and correct (correct) statement of their financial situation, together with the relevant documentary evidence. I do not check the accuracy of the information and documents provided. However, I ask you to sign the relevant written document confirming that you have provided me with all relevant information and documents. If it later turns out that your confirmation is not true, the documents (including contracts and agreements) prepared on the basis of your incorrect statement will be discarded and the corresponding set-off procedure will start from the beginning.

II. THE CONCILIATION PROCEDURE IS IMPARTIAL
6. As a conciliator, I am impartial and want to help all parties equally.
7. I do not make decisions or express an opinion on who is right – I do not choose parties.
8. I will assist the parties to the conciliation proceedings, as far as possible, in reaching common agreements and working out their own mutually agreed solutions.
9. I will provide the parties to the conciliation procedure with neutral legal and financial information to help them understand the different options. I do not give legal or financial advice or recommendations – all decisions must be made by the parties to the conciliation procedure themselves.
10. Where the proceedings directly or indirectly concern children and their interests and well-being, I, as conciliator, have a duty to guide the best interests of the child and to provide the parties to the conciliation with the best interests of the child in the present and future.

III. THE CONCILIATION PROCEDURE IS CONFIDENTIAL
11. As a conciliator, I have a professional duty of professional client confidentiality. All of our discussions about any terms or conditions of the Agreement or Agreements are without prejudice to your rights (legally privileged) and confidential.
12. The conciliator shall be bound by the obligation of silence in respect of the facts of the conciliation proceedings which have come to his knowledge either during or outside the conciliation proceedings. The conciliator shall provide information on the circumstances of the conciliation proceedings only to the conciliation parties and their representatives.
13. You promise not to summon me to testify as a witness in this conciliation procedure. Should I nevertheless be heard as a witness, I may not be questioned or asked to explain the facts which came to my knowledge during the conciliation proceedings.
14. 14. At your request, I will draw up an interim or final summary during or at the end of the conciliation procedure, as well as the text of a simple agreement (eg arrangements with the child; agreement reached on the dispute; agreement on the performance of financial obligations, etc.).
15. The summaries and other documents mentioned in the previous paragraph do not affect your rights (without prejudice) and will only be made available to the court with the written consent of all parties to the conciliation proceedings. You give your written consent, provided that the parties to the conciliation proceedings have been informed of the legal consequences of granting it and that they jointly consider that the submission of the relevant document to the court will be useful in resolving the case concerning them. However, you are aware that the court may oblige the conciliator to provide information on the facts of the conciliation proceedings in criminal, civil or administrative proceedings where this is justified by an overriding public interest, in particular the protection of the child’s interests or a threat to life and health.
16. However, you are aware that the court may oblige the conciliator to provide information on the facts of the conciliation proceedings in criminal, civil or administrative proceedings where this is justified by an overriding public interest, in particular the protection of the child’s interests or a threat to life and health.
17. However, I consider it my duty to inform you that the court’s interest in the summaries and other documents of the conciliation proceedings referred to in Clause 14 of the Agreement cannot be ruled out or the court prohibited from formally requesting them. We are all equal and obliged before the law – in such a situation, you cannot accuse me of violating our duty of confidentiality.
18. A conciliator or his or her successor or representative may release the conciliator from the obligation to maintain secrecy by giving written consent. If the conciliator is deceased and has no successors, or if it is not possible to contact him, the court may release the conciliator from the obligation of secrecy.

IV. SPECIFICATIONS FOR CONFIDENTIALITY REQUIREMENTS
19. The Conciliator’s obligation to remain silent shall not prevent the Conciliator from notifying the conciliator of a child in need of assistance pursuant to § 27 (1) of the Child Protection Act and a child in danger even if the circumstances show that the child needs assistance or is in danger during conciliation proceedings.

20. Please be informed that I am also obliged to comply with the notification obligation under the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act.
21. If your actions show signs of a crime and criminal proceedings are instituted, I have no legal basis for refusing to give testimony on the basis of professional or other activity. Pursuant to a court order, the conciliator shall provide the investigating bodies with information on the circumstances of the conciliation proceedings.

22. According to the Personal Data Protection Act, I have the right to process the personal data of you and your minor child only if you have given your consent in your own name and as the child’s legal representative.
23. I also need your consent if you are the heir and would need to process personal data after the death of the data subject. Consent shall not be required if the personal data processed are limited to the name, sex, date of birth and death, fact of death and time and place of burial of the data subject.
24. The consent specified in clauses 22 and 23 has been given by signing the Agreement.
25. Due to the nature of the conciliation proceedings, my supervisor may take a look at the conciliation files / folders / files that are or have been pending in my proceedings, which may also contain information relating to you, your ancestors or descendants. In this case, there is no breach of the obligation of confidentiality, as the supervisor also has a duty of confidentiality.
26. All information provided to me during the conciliation proceedings, including correspondence and communications, shall be made known to all or to both parties to the conciliation proceedings. This does not apply to addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, etc., which you do not want to share with other parties to the proceedings.
27. The financial information received from you is also public to the parties to the proceedings and, for reasons of procedural economy, I may present it to, for example, your lawyer, a court or other authority where proceedings are in progress requiring the same information.

V. HEARING OF THE CHILD

28. . If in the conciliation proceedings there is an agreement on the further life of the minor child and / or co-operation of the parents in raising the child, the child affected by the dispute shall be given an opportunity to express his or her views during the conciliation proceedings. The child should be heard in an appropriate manner, taking into account his or her age and level of development.
29.The hearing of a child may be waived if the child involved in the dispute has been heard by a child protection worker or another person working with the child during the six months preceding the commencement of the conciliation proceedings or if the child is not able to be heard due to the child’s age and level of development.
30. In order to prevent the repeated hearing of a child, the Conciliator shall, if necessary, co-operate with the child protection officer or other persons working with the child.

VI. AGREEMENT AND PARENTAL AGREEMENT

31. The purpose of negotiation and conciliation is an agreement that is considered fair and equitable by all parties. The conciliator’s duty to the parties is to help them reach such an agreement. Where possible, the conciliator should draw up a written document reflecting the agreements reached during the negotiations.
32. If an agreement is reached which the conciliator considers (1) illegal, (2) grossly unfair to one or more of the parties, (3) the result of misrepresentation, (4) the result of intentional fraud, (5) impossible to carry out, (6) in time insufficient, the Conciliator may use one or all of the following alternatives:
1) Inform the parties of the difficulties which the conciliator sees in the contract;
2) Inform the parties of the difficulties and make recommendations that level the problems;
3) to withdraw from the position of the Conciliator without disclosing the reasons for his or her withdrawal to either party;
4) to withdraw from the position of the Conciliator, but to disclose to both parties in writing the reasons for his or her departure;
5) To withdraw from the position of the Conciliator and to disclose to the public the general reason for such activity (unfair trade, unreasonable agreement, illegality, etc.).
33. At the request of the conciliation parties, the conciliator shall formulate an agreement in writing, which shall be signed by the conciliation parties and the conciliator

34. If in the conciliation procedure there is an agreement on the further life of the minor child and / or co-operation of the parents in raising the child and thus ensuring the protection and welfare of the child and the conciliation parties reach an agreement, the conciliation meetings are deemed concluded and a parental agreement is concluded.

VII. VII. RESTRICTIONS, TERMINATION OF PROCEEDINGS and CERTIFICATE OF FAILURE

35. The conciliation procedure shall be deemed terminated if:
1) the parties to the conciliation reach an agreement in the course of the conciliation proceedings;
2) ) the conciliation participant expresses the wish to interrupt the conciliation proceedings;
3) The conciliator shall interrupt the conciliation proceedings in the following cases:

– for good cause, in particular where it is unlikely that an agreement will be reached between the parties to the conciliation or if, in all the circumstances and in the interests of the parties to the conciliation, the conciliator cannot be expected to continue conciliation;
– if state procedural assistance has been provided to a person for payment to the Conciliator, the Conciliator may consider the conciliation proceedings terminated if at least three months have passed since the beginning of the conciliation proceedings.
36. In the cases specified in sub-clauses 2) and 3) of the preceding clause and at the request of the conciliation participant, the Conciliator shall issue a document confirming the failure of the conciliation proceedings (hereinafter the Certificate of Promotion).

37. . At the request of a person referred to the Conciliator by a court, the Conciliator shall also issue a Promotion Certificate if:
1) Only one of the parties has approached the conciliator;
2) The conciliator has made every effort to inform the other party of the wish to conduct conciliation proceedings by notifying him or her of the time and place of the conciliation negotiations;
3) the other party declares that he or she does not wish to participate in the conciliation proceedings, or fails to appear at the conciliation negotiations without good reason or otherwise shows an unwillingness to participate in the conciliation proceedings by his or her conduct.

38. A conciliator does not provide conciliation services in special cases of family conciliation, such as:
1) there has been domestic violence;
2) there has been abuse or neglect of the child;
3) one or both parties to the conciliation have a mental disorder or intellectual disability.
39. However, in special cases of family conciliation, the Conciliator may, at its discretion, involve another family conciliator in the conciliation meetings to support the conciliation proceedings.
40. JIf the parties do not reach an agreement with the help of the Conciliator, the Conciliator is obliged to inform them of the deadlock and recommend that the negotiations be terminated. The conciliator is obliged to inform the parties if a final stalemate occurs and to provide them with other means of resolving the dispute. The conciliator must not prolong the unproductive discussion, which would increase the parties’ time, emotional and financial costs.
41. Conciliation proceedings in matters relating to the rights of the child shall be terminated if:
1) the parties to the conciliation enter into a parenthood agreement;
2) the parties to the conciliation do not reach an agreement;
3) one party wishes to interrupt the conciliation meetings;
4) in the opinion of the conciliator, the conclusion of a parenthood agreement is unlikely;
5) in view of the changed circumstances, it is not possible to continue the conciliation proceedings.

42. The conciliation proceedings also end if the child involved in the dispute reaches the age of majority during the conciliation proceedings. If there are several children involved in the dispute, the conciliation proceedings shall end only in respect of the adult child.

43. If the conciliation proceedings are terminated on the basis of sub-clauses 2-5 of clause 37, the Conciliator shall forward the certificate of failure of conciliation proceedings to the parties.
44.The conciliator shall also forward to the parties a certificate of the failure of the conciliation proceedings if one of the parties does not consent to participate in the family conciliation upon application or if the conciliation parties do not agree with the appointed conciliator.
45. If the court or local government (local government) directs the parties to family conciliation and the conciliation proceedings are terminated, the Conciliator shall, within ten working days after the conciliation proceedings end, provide the court or local government with information on approval of.