Meeting of the Working Party on Mediation

On 24 January 2025, the Working Party on Cross-Border Family Mediation in the Context of the Malta Process (Working Party) met online. The meeting was attended by 23 participants representing 13 HCCH Members and two Observer States, as well as by members of the Permanent Bureau of the HCCH.

During the meeting, participants discussed the future trajectory of the Working Party, taking into consideration the results of the questionnaire circulated in 2024, presented in a report prepared by the Government of Canada, as well the discussions held at the Malta V conference in October 2024. The Working Party will continue the discussions in this regard during their upcoming meeting in March 2025.

The Working Party was established in 2009 to promote, in the context of the Malta Process, the development of mediation structures to help resolve cross-border family disputes concerning custody of, or contact with, children, including cases of unilateral removal of a child to another State, where the 1980 Child Abduction Convention and 1996 Child Protection Convention do not apply between the concerned States.

More information on the Working Party and on the Malta Process is available on the HCCH website.