THE USE OF MEDIATION AS A COMPLEMENT TO THE INTEGRATED DOMESTIC VIOLENCE COURTS OF NEW YORK

Source: (2011) Cardozo Journal Of Conflict Resolution.13: 713-738

In 2001, New York created the Integrated Domestic Violence Courts in order to more efficiently and more comprehensively ad- dress domestic violence cases.’ Domestic violence cases that were formerly spread out between two or three different courts can now be resolved in front of one judge.2 While this new court does mini- mize the hassle for the parties involved in the dispute and does eliminate inconsistent rulings by different judges in different courts, this new court structure does not address some problems that have existed with courts’ approaches to resolving domestic vi- olence.’ These problems include (1) that abusers can often afford to hire an attorney when victims cannot, (2) that victims are skepti- cal about the effectiveness of orders of protection, and (3) that abusers can use the court process as a way to further intimidate and abuse their victims.’ Mediation,5 in connection with the Inte- grated Domestic Violence Courts, could be used in cases where these problems occur to help the parties resolve their problems.(Excerpt)