Meeting of the Working Party on Mediation
On 26 November 2025, the Working Party on Cross-Border Family Mediation in the Context of the Malta Process (Working Party on Mediation) met online. The meeting had over 30 registered participants, representing 16 HCCH Members and two Observer States, in addition to members of the Permanent Bureau of the HCCH.
During the meeting, participants heard about the system of cross-border mediation and family reconciliation in Jordan. Then, participants discussed examples of mediation cases between Contracting States to the 1980 Child Abduction and 1996 Child Protection Conventions and non-Contracting Shari'a Law States via two case studies.
The Working Party on Mediation 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 and 1996 Child Protection Conventions do not apply between the concerned States.
More information on the Working Party on Mediation and on the Malta Process is available on the HCCH website.