My Impressions – Attending the “3rd Congress International de toutes les Mediation,” Angers, France

The 3rd Annual Congress is taking place in Angers, France, from March 12-14. This is its 3rd gathering and one I chose to attend to develop my mediator skills, understand the field of conflict resolution from broader perspectives, and connect with like-minded colleagues around the world who share a passion for resolving disputes outside of the courtroom. Because I also have family in nearby Paris, the Congress presented a good opportunity to visit with relatives after the conference.

Arriving at the event was well, non-eventful, just I like it. I did make the mistake of not pre-printing and bringing my registration name tag for the conference badge provided to attendees. But they printed it out for me fine. The finger food provided all day and the drinks made available was more than adequate as you move from conference hall to round table sessions. I do regret paying for the bus and tram pass because walking this city, which has many sites close is a breeze. I also do not plan to stay too too long in Angers apart for attending the conference.

The Congress is held at the very organized Angers Convention Center. Angers is relatively small so walking to and from the conference from my nearby hotel was very convenient. While the conference is 100% in French, since the event caters to an international audience, there are audio interpretation headsets for both English and Spanish. English interpretation was not always available for all sessions, but my working knowledge of French carried me through. It also does help that nearly every attendee I’ve meet, along with venue staff at this conference, speak some English. When I needed clarity because a speaker spoke too quickly for me to understand, a simple “Excusez-moi, parlez-vous anglais?” helped get the information spoken in English while showing respect to my host country that I did try to learn their language. I hope in the future they will have English interpreters standard for all sessions at the event.

The speakers at this event tend to be very reputable in their specific conflict resolution niches. So far I’ve listened to mediator practitioners, lawyers, organization directors, government officials, etc., from various countries such as Canada, Columbia, and France. Most speakers are from throughout France. On the diversity side, I appreciate seeing a balance in men and women, a diversity in experience and thought, and individuals of color represented in the group.

I’ll highlight 1 session I attended in the “Pleniere” main session on Thursday morning dealing with promoting mediation in society (session titled “Susciter la confidence pour promouvoir la mediation.”)

This was moderated by lawyer-mediator Christiane Feral-Schuhl of France with panelists Nicolas Fournier of the UK, Natalie Fricero of France, and Ivan Verougstraete of Belgium. I love comparative politics and law, so I naturally appreciated how mediation practices differ across different jurisdictions, including countries. This is a great way to learn what your own jurisdiction needs to work on, or find out what it’s doing relatively well. For example, the debate on whether mediation attendance can be compelled by courts I always thought was a settled issue. In Texas anyway, the answer is yes, courts can compel parties (in civil claims) to mediate, absent specific exceptions as allowed by law. However in the UK, they just recently put that matter to bed in 2023 in Churchill v. Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council, where the appeals court ruled that compulsory court ordered mediation is awful and does not negate a parties’ individual rights. So it was a good reminder to know that an obligation to mediate is not the same as an obligation to settle. If mediation proves unsuccessful then the right to trial still exists. However, parties need to at least try.

So far, I’ve not see other Americans. I’m surprised by the large number of Québécois in attendance, and learned a lot from their contributions. More to come. Follow @macpierrelouis on my socials.