What do Mediators Need to Know to Mediate Ethically?

The purpose of this chapter is to give mediators a brief explanation of what it means to mediate ethically. To do that we have to clarify what it means to engage in mediation, and what makes this engagement ethical or unethical. Essentially, mediators' ethics and the ethical practice of mediation are the marriage of two concepts: the concept of role (acting as a mediator) and the concept of ethics (doing the right thing). The law that governs mediators becomes part of mediators' ethics as well through the general ethical obligation to obey the law. This chapter describes key concepts in professional ethics, identifies general principles of mediators' ethics that can be applied to mediation practice, and suggests specific guidelines to ethical conduct that complement existing codes of conduct for mediators such as the Model Standards of Conduct for Mediators (2005) (Hereafter – Model Standards). In addition, it will acquaint readers with a perspective of mediators' ethics that will assist them to mediate ethically in the absence of an applicable code, in interpreting codes that apply to them, in filling in gaps in these codes, and in sorting their way when ethical problems are encountered