Community Mediation: Resolution of the People, by the People and for the People

Community based mediation, a commonly known community based dispute resolution mechanism has a long history in Sri Lanka. These mechanisms existed in the form of village councils or Gam Sabas during the pre-colonial times. Although mechanisms approximating these councils continued to function throughout the Portuguese and Dutch colonial rule, they became largely defunct during the British rule. If the enactment of the Village Communities Ordinance in 1871 by the British marked their colonial reconstitution, the Rural Courts Ordinance of 1945 laid the foundation for postcolonial attempts to reactivate community-centric mediation, particularly through the replacement of rural courts by Conciliation Boards (Gunawardana, 2011). While there were several attempts to formalise community mediation during British rule and in the early post-independence period, it was established as a formal mechanism within Sri Lanka under the Community Mediation Boards Act 72 of 1988 as part of resolving community level disputes and minor offences. Thereby, the first Mediation Boards were established in July 1990 in selected divisional secretariat divisions around the country. The then ongoing war constrained the establishment of Community Mediation Boards in the Northern and Eastern Provinces except in Uhana and Dehiattakandiya DS Divisions in Ampara District. At present, there are 329 Community Mediation Boards with approximately 8500 mediators functioning in the country.