* Interview with Mrs. Alina Gorghiu, deputy of the PNL, initiator of the law no. 115/2012
Reporter: What is your opinion on the introduction, starting on February 15th, 2013, of the mandatory information sessions concerning mediation?
Alina Gorghiu: It's been a few years since I can no longer say that I am completely unbiased when it comes to mediation, but I can answer you, and hope I do so with a dose of realism, that this addition to the Romanian legislation, represented by the mandatory and free-of-charge information session concerning mediation, is an extremely positive practice.
The global experience proves that mediation has a chance of success of approximately 60-80% in those cases where the parties show up for mediation.
Unfortunately, Romania is a litigious culture. Most of its citizens live under the impression that the only solution for a conflict is to file a lawsuit in court.
Despite this trend, statistics show that Romanians don\'t trust the Romanian legal system. The long time it takes to solve the lawsuits, the high expenses, the rulings which are often perceived as unfair, issued by the court, are most often the reasons which underlie this lack of trust.
The efforts made in the last few years to promote mediation as an alternative to a country\'s legal system have proven insufficient, as there is still a significant gap between the perception of Romanian citizens towards mediation and the perception of citizens from countries such as France, the US or the UK towards this method of solving conflicts.
In this context, a legislative measure was needed to provide citizens with information about the option to resort to mediation free of charge.
Reporter: Will the courts be less encumbered because of this procedure? Will the number of lawsuits be reduced?
Alina Gorghiu: As for the number of lawsuits o
