Regulations, Codes and Procedures

The MII is a not-for-profit organisation and a registered charity. The documents below outline the strands of the MII Governance process. If you have any queries in relation to any of the documents below, don’t hesitate in contacting us at: info@themii.ie.

MII Structure

MII Council is responsible for MII policy and strategy decisions. Council Comprises:

Executive Committee

Responsible for the day-to-day operations of the MII and reporting directly to MII Council.

• President
• President Elect (every third year)
• Honorary Secretary
• Honorary Treasurer
• Registrar
• Director of Accreditation
• Chair of Governance, Audit and Risk Committee
• Chair of Ethics and Standards Committee

Additional Specified Council Roles

• Conference Committee Chairperson
• Education Committee Chairperson
• Audit Committee Chairperson
• Agriculture Sector Liasion Officer
• Community Sector Liaison Officer
• Commercial Sector Liaison Officer
• Elder Mediation Sector Liaison Officer
• Family Sector Liaison Officer
• Organisation and Workplace Sector Liaison Officer
• Peacebuilding Sector Liaison Officer

Role Outlines

 President:

• Overall leadership of the MII
• Overall responsibility for the co-ordination of the various functions and committees
• Overall responsibility for the administration
• National and International representative of the MII
• Public face and spokesperson of the organisation

Honorary Secretary:

• Ethics
• Governance
• Meeting and decision-making processes
• Disciplinary, Complaints and Appeals processes

Registrar:

• Individual membership
• Sharing and learning
• CPD process
• Ethics (practice)
• Insurance

External Relations Director:

• Identify opportunities and assist and support the President in establishing relationships with national and international mediation associations
• Collaboration with related professions
• Collaboration with other organisations
• Link with research and funding groups
• Develop and inform policy

Accreditation Director:

• Professional requirements and developments
• Accreditation and training
• Certified and Advanced assessment
• Specialist training
• Reflective practice and supervision
• Traineeship
• Practice assistance
• Practice and training
• Communications Director:
• MII communications
• MII marketing

Treasurer:

• Finance
• Budgets
• Fees
• Sponsorship
• Funding
• Conference Chairperson:
• Annual conference
• Education Chairperson
• CPD courses
• Symposia
• Research

Audit Committee:

• Oversight of finances
• Risk management

Specialist Liasion Officers:

• Liaise and improve/create relationships between stakeholders and members in particular areas of interest.
• Develop the mediation market in those areas.
• Deal with specialist specific issues.

For a list of current Council officers see Who We Are.

Standing Orders for Council and Committees

Meetings, Agendas, Documents and Minutes

• Agendas and papers for discussion to be circulated electronically or in hard copy not less than 7 days before the meeting.
• At least 7 days notice to be given of meetings. Preferably dates for meetings will be fixed at least three months in advance.
• A Secretary to the meeting to be appointed and minutes to be taken at each meeting
• Minutes to be circulated not more than 14 days after the meeting and changed if necessary, approved and signed by the chairperson of the meeting. Secretary of the committee to maintain minute book.
• Only items on or related to items on the Agenda to be taken at the meeting except in the case where timing makes it necessary to take the matter at the meeting.
• Unapproved Minutes of all committee meetings to be circulated to the executive secretary for circulation to the Council prior to the next Council meeting.
• Committee meetings to be held sufficiently far in advance of Council Meetings to enable unapproved minutes to be circulated with the Council papers for discussion at the Council meeting.

Potential conflicts of Interest

• At the first meeting in each calendar year the chairperson of the meeting shall ask members of the Council or committee to declare any interest that they have that might give rise to a conflict of interest with the MII. If a member of Council or Committee is not present at the meeting the chairperson on the meeting should follow up with them until all have an opportunity to make the declaration.
• At any time during the year should a potential conflict of interest arise the Member must declare it.
• Where a conflict of interest arises in relation to any topic the person conflicted shall excuse themselves and not take part in the discussion except with the consent of the chairperson of the meeting.
• The Honorary Secretary shall maintain a register of interests of council and each of the Committees which shall be available for the inspection of the Members.

Elections

• At least six weeks prior to the Annual General Meeting each member of Council will confirm whether or not they will be continuing in office for the next year in accordance with the By-Laws and, if they are due to retire, whether they are going to stand for re-election.

Confidentiality

• All matters discussed at Council and Committee meetings are confidential. If it is thought appropriate the meeting will agree what information may be disseminated to third parties.

Notifying the MII of a breach of the Code of Ethics and Practice

Objective

The objective of the MII Notifications and Complaints and Disciplinary Rules and Procedures is to promote and ensure adherence to the highest possible professional standards and competency by Members in their practice as Mediators by providing a fair, transparent and effective process to deal with notifications and complaints of alleged breaches of the Code of Ethics, by assisting and guiding Members and where appropriate, proportionally disciplining Members and thereby protecting and providing assurance to the users of mediation services in Ireland.

Purpose of the complaints and disciplinary process

The purpose of the disciplinary process is to provide a fair, just and effective system of investigating complaints, decision-making, support and sanctioning in order to:

• provide support and where necessary to apply sanctions on members who fail to adhere to the required professional standards.
• promote adherence to high professional standards.
• ensure that those who use mediation services provided by MII members are protected.
• protect the public interest generally.
• maintain public confidence in MII and mediation.

Scope

The MII complaints and disciplinary process cannot be used as a forum to seek or to provide compensation or redress or settling disputes between a user of mediation and a Mediator. This document sets out the rules and procedures to be followed on receipt of a notification of an alleged breach of the MII Code of Ethics (hereinafter referred to as a “Notification”) by a MII Member. Any person or entity, including MII on its own volition, can lodge or submit a Notification.
The rules and procedures set out in this document replaces all previous complaints policies and procedures operated by the MII. Notifications or complaints raised with the MII on or after 6 April 2023 shall be processed as per the procedures set out in this document.These rules and procedures constitute a process, following notification of an alleged breach of the MII Code of Ethics, of internal confidential assessment and engagement with the mediator and where appropriate for alleged serious breaches of the Code of Ethics, the holding of formal disciplinary proceedings. All notifications of an alleged breach of the MII Code of Ethics that qualify for assessment under these procedures will be dealt with thoroughly. Where appropriate the MII will raise concerns with its member, confidentially, and as deemed appropriate by the Council of the MII and in line with the MII Code of Ethics and the internal members disciplinary procedure. The following are not covered by this policy: If the Mediator is acting under a statutory mediation scheme under the auspices of a State or Public Body or is acting as an in-house Mediator appointed by their employer to mediate differences between employees. Negligence or contractual breaches or criminal allegations. If the MII determines that any part of a notification falls into one of these categories and cannot be processed, the MII will write to the person submitting the notification to let them know and the MII will explain why this is so.

Conditions of raising a notification

The notification of an alleged breach of the MII Code of Ethics must be raised in writing within 3 months of the conclusion of a Mediation, (i.e. within 3 months or 90 days of the date of the signed mediation settlement or the last date of the mediation engagement) or within 3 months of reasonably becoming aware of the matter.

• The mediator to whom the notification relates must be a member of the MII or have been at the time of the mediation.
• All allegations raised must be supported by evidence and direct reference to the MII Code of Ethics.
• Anonymous allegations against a named MII mediator will not be considered.

If the MII determines that a notification of an alleged breach of the MII Code of Ethics does not meet the above criteria, the notification assessment will not proceed, the case will close and the MII will write to the person/s concerned to inform them that the case is closed.

Submitting or lodging a notification

Notification of an alleged breach of the MII Code of Ethics by one of its members should be made in writing to the CEO of the MII by email to notifications@themii.ie. Any notification received will be screened by a designated person of the MII. The designated person will be appointed by the President of the MII. The designated person will act as the Registrar/Administrator throughout the process. The designated person will:

• Determine if the notification meets the objective criteria to make a submission.
• Acknowledge receipt of the notification within ten days.
• Inform the mediator of the notification.

Initial Screening

The CEO, or another person appointed by the President, shall undertake an initial screening examination of the notification to establish whether, on the face of it, there appears to be a case to be answered regarding the possible breach of the MII Code of Ethics by one of its members. This examination will be based on objective criteria and conditions of making such a notification, as described above. If the initial assessment finds that the notification does not qualify under the criteria, the person who submitted the notification and the Mediator will be informed. If the initial assessment finds that the notification does qualify and that there may be a case to be answered, the person who submitted the notification and the Mediator will be informed

Assessment Committee

A two-person Assessment Committee will be selected from a trained Panel of six assessors who are MII members. The panel will be made up of Advanced members, or members who have a minimum of seven years’ experience, or a relevant professional qualification. The Assessment Committee will liaise throughout the process with the designated person, as determined by them. The mediator will be advised of the membership of the Assessment Committee. The mediator may object to a member or members of the Assessment Committee if the mediator can show an actual or potential conflict of interest or bias.

Assessment of the Notification of an alleged Breach of the Code of Ethics by an MII Member

The Assessment Committee will impartially examine the notification by gathering all relevant information and evidence. This may include speaking with the person who has submitted the notification, the mediator, witnesses or examining documentation. This will be undertaken promptly and with attention to detail to ensure a thorough examination of the notification. The Assessment Committee shall make one of the following findings:

• That there is no case to answer.
• That the matter is managed through the informal process that may result in an advisory outcome or remedial action.
• That the matter is managed through the formal process that may result in disciplinary action and sanction.

The Assessment Committee will confirm their findings to the designated person, who will advise the Executive of the outcome without identifying the identities of the persons involved. Where there is no case to answer the designated person will advise the mediator and the person who submitted the notification. Where the matter is referred to the informal process, the Assessment Committee will advise the mediator and proceed to the informal process. Where the matter is referred to the formal process, the Assessment Committee will advise the designated person.

Informal Process

The Assessment Committee will work in consultation with the mediator to address the issues and the Committee shall decide on the course of action, either advisory or remedial. A remedial action may involve an advisory element.

Advisory: Where the Assessment Committee decide that the findings and recommendations are advisory in nature, they will offer guidance and suggestions to the mediator. It is intended that this stage is informative and supportive and aimed at providing insight into potential courses of action that may address the issue at hand. In most cases, it can be expected that the case will close; the mediator and person who submitted the notification will be informed that the case is closed. The Assessment Committee may decide that as new information arises, the notification should be considered for a remedial action or move to the formal procedure. In such cases, the Assessment Committee will inform the mediator. The person who submitted the notification will not be informed at this stage. A mediator who fully engages with the advisory process shall not be deemed to have received any adverse finding regarding professional conduct.

Remedial Action: The Assessment Committee may decide that remedial action is necessary. Remedial action is deemed appropriate and necessary to mitigate any potential harm and address the underlying problem. The nature and scope of the remedial action will depend on the specifics of the situation, and will be undertaken in consultation with the mediator. It will be designed to prevent the issue from recurring and to ensure that any harm resulting from the notification/alleged breach is minimised. The Assessment Committee shall ensure that all efforts will be made to implement the necessary actions in a timely and effective manner. Following the completion of any remedial obligation within a time frame set by the Assessment Committee, the case will be closed. The mediator who fully engages with the remedial process shall not be deemed to have received any adverse finding regarding professional conduct. The mediator and person who submitted the notification will be informed that the case is closed. In some cases, the Assessment Committee may decide if new information becomes available and/or if the Mediator does not comply, without just cause, with the Committee’s directions, the allegation may be processed through the formal disciplinary process. In such cases, the Assessment Committee will inform the mediator. The person who submitted the notification will not be informed at this stage.

Formal Process

All informal resolution avenues will be contemplated and, where appropriate, exhausted before a formal process is invoked. Other than for allegations of serious breaches of the Code of Ethics, proceeding to a formal process shall not be automatic. The designated person will bring the recommendation for the matter to be referred to the formal process to the Executive for decision. Escalating a notification to a formal process will only be done following a review by the Assessment Committee of all aspects of the matters concerned. The Executive may decide the matter should not be referred to a formal process and that the matter should be referred back to the informal process for further consideration. Should a notification proceed to the formal process, it will be referred to as a ‘complaint’.

Investigation: The purpose of an investigation is to determine the facts. The outcome of an investigation may separately lead to a disciplinary process being instigated in respect of the member, but the investigation itself will be solely a fact-finding exercise. The investigation will be governed by terms of reference which should include:

• A timescale for the investigation
• The scope of the investigation
• Confidentiality
• The President will appoint an investigator either from the Assessment Panel or an experienced Member or externally, depending on the nature of the notification.

Disciplinary Process: The Disciplinary process will involve a hearing before a Disciplinary Committee. The Executive will appoint the Disciplinary Committee of three persons, either MII members or otherwise.
The report and findings of the investigation will be submitted to the Disciplinary Committee, and the Disciplinary Committee shall consider same. The Disciplinary Committee shall be an inquisitorial, a finder of fact and a decision- making body.The mediator will attend before the Disciplinary Committee and shall be entitled to be represented at his/her own cost. The person who submitted the notification may be invited to the disciplinary hearing by the Disciplinary Committee or the mediator. He/she will attend only in the capacity of a witness before the Disciplinary Committee but shall be entitled to be represented at his/her own cost, and may be examined/questioned by members of the committee. The member, or the legal representative of the member, shall have the right to cross-examine the witness. The standard of proof required before the Disciplinary Committee is the civil standard, that is, on the balance of probabilities. If the Disciplinary Committee holds that the member has breached the Code of Ethics it shall have a wide discretion in relation to proportionate sanctions, and this could range from a recommendation of action to the member, and up to and including suspension and or termination of its MII membership. The Disciplinary Committee shall report its findings to both the person who submitted the notification and the mediator. The Disciplinary Committee may decide to confine reporting of any sanction imposed on a member to the member only, and to the CEO. If the Disciplinary Committee decides not to impose a cost recovery measure, it must set out in an anonymised report to the Executive, the justification for not imposing a cost recovery measure. On application by the member to the Executive, the cost recovery measure and/or the sanction may be reduced, but in no case shall the Executive interfere with the findings of the Disciplinary Committee.

Appeal: A member against whom an adverse finding has been made by a Disciplinary Committee, may, within a 21-day period from the issuing of the decision, appeal both the finding and the sanction imposed by the Disciplinary Committee.

The Executive of MII will appoint the Appeals Panel, which shall consist of three persons:

• One of whom shall be a barrister or solicitor, of at least five years standing, and that person shall act as chairperson of the panel
• One of whom will be an Advanced Member, or member who has a minimum of seven years’ experience, or a relevant professional qualification
• The appeal shall be by way of a full appeal but without the entitlement to a rehearing on oral evidence.
• The person who submitted the notification shall not have a right to appeal any decision or sanction of the Disciplinary Committee.
• The Appeals Panel shall confine its deliberations to the evidence presented to the Disciplinary Committee, the report of the Disciplinary Committee and in exceptional and justified situations the panel may consider new evidence which may be advanced by the member.

The Appeals Panel may:

• confirm all or any findings of the Disciplinary Committee.
• confirm all or any sanction imposed by the Disciplinary Committee.
• set aside all or any finding of the Disciplinary Committee.
• set aside all or any sanction imposed by the Disciplinary Committee.
• substitute its own finding for all or any finding of the Disciplinary Committee.
• impose its own sanction to replace all or any sanction imposed Disciplinary Committee.

If the Appeals Panel confirms in total or substantially the findings and sanctions imposed by the Disciplinary Committee, the member shall be liable for the full cost of the Appeals Panel. The member may make a written submission to the Executive seeking mitigation of any financial fine or cost imposed on the member by the Appeals Panel.

Confidentiality: All members of the MII, who wilfully or recklessly breach confidentiality of any aspect of the deliberations involved in the procedures for the processing of notifications and complaints of alleged breaches of the Code of Ethics shall, if proven, be guilty of a serious breach of the Code of Ethics. A staff member of MII who wilfully or recklessly breached confidentiality shall, if proven, be guilty of serious misconduct and a fundamental breach of trust.

GDPR Privacy Policy

Who We Are: The Mediators’ Institute of Ireland is a company limited by guarantee, registered under Part 18 of the Companies Act, 2014. The main object for which the Company is established is to promote the use of mediation as a process of dispute resolution in all areas by ensuring the highest standards of education training and professional practice of mediation and by increasing public awareness of mediation.

The Information We Process: To allow us to provide our services and to run our business, we collect and process various categories of personal information from our members and affiliates including basic information such as your name and contact details. The MII will use member/affiliates data to communicate with them about their membership and issues that are of interest to MII members such as training, research and news articles. The data requested by the Mediators’ Institute of Ireland relates primarily to the individual applicant’s contact information and details of their mediation qualifications and work experience. The MII also processes complaints from clients against MII members. A record of all valid and invalid complaints is retained in a secure and confidential manner.

How We Obtain Information: Information is sought directly from members and affiliates themselves primarily when applying for membership/affiliation or at the annual membership renewal stage.. When applying to become a member/affiliate of the Mediators’ Institute of Ireland (MII) individuals are asked to provide personal data so that their application can be considered in line with the assessment criteria utilised by the MII to determine eligibility for membership or affiliation.All members and affiliates are encouraged to renew their membership or affiliation online utilising a secure financial payment system. In some cases applicants may provide bank or credit card details in order to pay the application fee or annual subscription. The MII does not retain any financial information or bank details submitted by members or affiliates after payments have been processed.

Consent: In line with requirements under GDPR, the MII will only process members/ affiliates’ data where consent has been obtained. This consent option will apply to all new applicants from 25th May 2018 and will be included in all renewal application forms for 2019. In line with GDPR provisions all members and affiliates have the right to withdraw their consent to the usage of their data at any time. However, the withdrawal of consent will result in the cessation of membership/affiliation.

Storage of Information: Information is stored online is a secure database and offline in a secure filing system. Information is accessed only by authorised MII staff namely the Office Manager and the Registrar and is controlled by password protection.

Members and Affiliates’ Online Profiles: All members and affiliates also have the option of developing their own personal mediation Profile and uploading it to the MII website. This allows them to set and amend their privacy settings by making their information public on the MII website (Available to Mediate) or opt to show only that they are a Member/Affiliate of the MII and to hide all other information (Not Available). Each individual is personally responsible for the content of their own personal Profile. Data contained in a Profile will be removed from the MII website on cessation of their membership or affiliation.

Sharing of Information: The MII will only use a member/affiliate’s information where it is necessary for us to carry out our lawful business activities. The Institute does not share its members and affiliates details with other organisations.

Retention of Files and Data: The MII is committed to ensuring that all members and affiliates data and complaint details are retained securely consistent with the mandatory periods of retention outlined below:

•  Protection of MII member, period of limitation within which clients can bring complaints against mediators. All files – both in hard copy and in electronic storage format. Period no less then 6 Years. Statuary of Regulation reference: Statute of Limitations Act 1957.
• Compliance with Accounts regulations. All Accounts Files – both in hard copy and in electronic storage format. Period no less then  6 Years. Statuary of Regulation reference: Accounts Regulations, S.I. 421 of 2001.

In line with the Statute of Limitations Act 1957, when a person ceases to be a member or affiliate of the MII their file and data (both in hard copy and electronic format) will be retained by the Institute for a period of 6 years. If after 6 years a former member or affiliate has not sought to re-join, their hard-copy file will be shredded and electronic data deleted. Only their basic details (name, contact details, member/affiliate history etc.) will be retained by the MII and will be archived on the online system. After 6 years, Expired members will no longer be contacted by the MII in connection with their membership status. In addition the MII will retain for a period of 6 years details of all unsuccessful applications for MII membership/affiliation. Incomplete applications (where the applicant has not supplied one or more component of the application requirements) are deleted after 3 months.

Your Rights: As a member/affiliate of the Mediators’ Institute of Ireland you have certain legal rights to control your information and the manner in which we process it. This includes:

a) a right to get access to your personal information;
b) a right to request us to correct inaccurate information, or update incomplete information;
c) a right to receive the personal information you provided to us in a portable format;

If you have a concern over the manner in which your personal information may have been retained or used, you can contact the MII by email at info@themii.ie or by post to The Mediators’ Institute of Ireland,  The Capel Building, Mary’s Abbey, Dublin 7

Data Protection Policy

Please download the pdf in the link below to view our data protection policy.

Website Privacy Notice

Mediators’ Institute of Ireland (“the MII”) is committed to preserving the privacy of all visitors to www.themii.ie (“our website”). This privacy statement relates to our practices in connection with our website. The MII fully respects the right to privacy. We will not collect personal information/personal data about you when you visit our website unless you choose to provide that information using our “General Contact Form”. By using this site, you consent to the collection and use of your information under the terms of this privacy statement which is in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation of 2016/679 and the European Communities (Electronic Communications Networks and Services) (Privacy and Electronic Communications) Regulations 2011. Please read the following privacy statement to understand how we use and protect the information that you choose to provide to us.

Personal information which we collect from you: When you visit our website you may wish to provide certain information about yourself, such as when you complete our “General Contact Form”. Information provided by completing this form is send as an e-mail directly to info@themii.ie.

Non-Personal information which we collect: Where you visit our website, certain non-personal data is available to us through our internet service provider. This non-personal data is collected on a statistical, aggregate, non-individual basis. This information may include the IP address from which you access our website, the type of browser used to access our website (Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.), the type of operating system used to access our website (Windows, Macintosh, etc.), the “top-level” domain name used (.ie, .com, .org, etc.), the date and time of your visit to our website and the number of pages you visited on our website.

IP Addresses Anonymisation in Analytics: Mediators’ Institute of Ireland website is a customer of Google Analytics which is a freemium web analytics service that tracks and reports website traffic. An IP address is a number that is assigned to your computer automatically when you use the internet. When you visit any web page in our website Analytics anonymises the address as soon as technically feasible at the earliest possible stage of the collection network. The IP anonymisation feature in Analytics sets the last octet of IPv4 user IP addresses and the last 80 bits of IPv6 addresses to zeroes in memory shortly after being sent to the Analytics Collection Network. The full IP address is never written to disk in this case. The process of IP anonymisation in Analytics takes place within two steps in the collection pipeline: the JavaScript Tag and the Collection Network. These steps are explained below.

Cookies: A cookie is a small file sent to your browser from a Web server and stored on your computer’s hard drive to identify you as the user of the website. Typically they are used by the website to identify the person accessing the website to track the person’s use of the site and any repeat visits made by that person. In general, cookies are used to retain user preferences, store information for things like shopping carts, and provide anonymised tracking data to third party applications like Google Analytics. As a rule, cookies will make your browsing experience better. this section may have to be updated with new information.

Sharing data: We do not disclose, sell or distribute any personal information which you send to us to any third parties.

Security: We employ security measures to protect your information from access by unauthorised persons and to guard against unlawful processing, accidental loss, destruction and damage and we will do our best to ensure that all records we hold remain secure in line with our obligations under the EU General Data Protection Regulation of 2016/679. We take our security responsibilities seriously, employing the most appropriate physical and technical measures, including staff training and awareness. We review our security procedures regularly.

Retention: We do not retain your personal data for longer than it is necessary for us to comply with the purpose for which you gave it to us. Any personal data which you provide to us using this website will be used in line with the purposes for which you provided it (e.g. to contact you and answer any queries which you have raised in the “General Contact Form” or to address any other feedback which you send us in the “General Contact Form”) and after this purpose has been completed, we will delete your personal data.

Changes to our Privacy Statement: This is a live document, under regular review. This statement was updated in May 2018.

Contacting Us: In the event of any queries please contact us!