MEDIATION AS A TOOL FOR SELF-REGULATION IN ECONOMIC AND COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY IN THE CONTEXT OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION

The article examines the peculiarities of mediation as a means of self-regulation in economic and commercial activity. The author emphasises that, given the current changes in legislation and the acceleration of European integration, defining the legal basis for the introduction of mediation through the prism of self-regulation will contribute to the understanding of the legal nature of this instrument and its practical application in commercial disputes. In the light of the analysis, the author identifies the problems of legal support for mediation in Ukraine and options for their solution. It has been established that the functional purpose of self-regulation during mediation as an opportunity to settle a dispute in economic and commercial activity is the choice and mutual agreement to resolve the conflict by this method and in the future with a positive outcome of the process: consolidation and implementation of a jointly adopted and agreed decision. The legislator has provided mediators' associations with the opportunity to independently develop their own codes of professional ethics for mediators or to recognise existing codes and join them, including only general ethical provisions. By uniting on a voluntary basis, mediators can independently regulate their own activities and control within the limits established by law, including the development of internal regulations for the functioning of the professional community. The self-regulatory features of mediation in economic and commercial activities include: independence of the parties in choosing a dispute resolution method, a mediator, concluding a mediation agreement, a mediation procedure, a method of conflict resolution by mutual agreement of the parties. Self-regulation in the activities of mediators can be manifested in the following: the introduction and implementation by the mediation community of its own standards, the development of mediation clauses, mediation rules, the procedure for training and improving the qualifications of mediators, mediator codes of ethics. Considering the European integration vector, it would be expedient to borrow effective standards of activity of mediators.