Meeting of the Working Party on Mediation
On 13 June 2025, the Working Party on Cross-Border Family Mediation in the Context of the Malta Process (Working Party on Mediation) met online. The meeting was attended by over 30 participants representing 13 HCCH Members and 1 Observer State, three independent experts as well as by members of the Permanent Bureau of the HCCH.
During the meeting, the independent experts made presentations on examples of mediation cases between Contracting States and non-Contracting Sharia’ Law States. This was followed by a discussion.
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.