A SOCIO-ENVIRONMENTAL MEDIATION AS AN INTEGRATING INSTRUMENT

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the possibility of using mediation as a possible end in resolving socio-environmental conflicts. The discussions involving the protection of the right to an ecologically balanced environment are growing in the country, especially after major environmental disasters, since they generate complex, lengthy, and time-consuming proceedings. Countless people have had their lives changed and, rightfully so, these people expect a swift solution from the Judiciary. The Judiciary, in turn, faces difficulties in settling the above-mentioned disputes, either due to the absence of specialized technical staff in environmental issues, or due to the lack of resources for the solution of these conflicts, or even due to the well-known work overload. Thus, the objective of this paper is to analyze socio-environmental mediation, an extrajudicial remedy to promote access to justice in environmental disputes. To this end, the deductive method was used, based on a bibliographic review of legislative documents. In the end, it will be concluded that the complexity of the facts underlying socio-environmental conflicts requires the use of dialogical means for their composition since the simple acceptance or rejection of a certain claim is often not enough to settle disputes of this nature.