Many grassroots localities in Nghe An, thanks to the effective promotion of the role of mediation teams, have promptly resolved conflicts and disputes among the people in the direction of "clearly distinguishing right from wrong - complete reason and emotion", contributing to strengthening the great solidarity bloc in the community, promoting socio-economic development.
Brothers quarrel because of “alcohol in, words out”, husband and wife have conflicts, parents and children are at odds, neighbors quarrel just because of a common path or a fence… all sorts of things happen in daily life that damage family affection, village affection, and neighborhood affection. Faced with such “mess”, grassroots mediation teams are required to actively participate. With knowledge of the law, patience, life experience and experience in dealing with people, skillfully combining reason and emotion, mediation teams have gradually resolved conflicts, making the parties calmly realize their shortcomings and incorrect behavior.
For example, a rare situation occurred in Bui Thuong hamlet, Hung Trung commune (Hung Nguyen) when a family in the hamlet gave birth to a son but accidentally named the baby the same name as an ancestor in the clan, so there were frequent conflicts and arguments between the clan and the family. When the cause was clearly understood, the mediation team went to the house to analyze and advise the family to change the name to a more suitable one. Finally, the family agreed to change the child's name. The story seems simple, but if not resolved soon, it could cause disunity in the entire clan.
Mr. Hoang Dang Thang - Head of the Front Committee and Head of the Reconciliation Team of Bui Thuong Hamlet said: in the countryside, the affection between neighbors is very strong, but it is also easy to have conflicts like "chickens crowing at each other". Therefore, the reconciliation activities must be based on reason and emotion to convince, not "big knife, big hammer", not prejudiced about events and people.
Mr. Le Dinh Que - Party Cell Secretary, Head of the Mediation Team of Hai Bac Hamlet, Dien Bich Commune (Dien Chau) gave an example of an unexpected situation that the mediation team had to quickly intervene in. That was when two families in the hamlet had a conflict over a wall ledge. The reason was that Mr. B's family built a kiosk for rent, but when making a window, a part of the ledge extended to Mr. L's house; Mr. L asked Mr. B to remove it or else Mr. L would demolish it. What was quite awkward was that Mr. B was the head of a mass organization and a member of the hamlet mediation team. After learning about the incident and considering the reality, along with propaganda and ideological work for Mr. L, the Hai Bac Hamlet Mediation Team held a meeting right in Mr. B's house, analyzing to him that as a member of the mediation team, he had to be exemplary and maintain the neighborhood relationship. Finally, Mr. B understood and hired workers to cut the cement ledge extending to Mr. L's land.
From the practice at the grassroots level, Ms. Dau Thi Son - a judicial officer of Dien Bich commune said: Members of the grassroots mediation team do not focus on academic qualifications, but require them to be experienced, prestigious, enthusiastic, knowledgeable about the law, exemplary, and trusted by the community. Thanks to the convergence of these factors, many mediation teams have become "connectors", helping the government resolve disputes and stabilize the situation in residential areas.
Since the Law on Grassroots Mediation came into effect, some localities in the province have had good and effective methods in mediation work. A typical example is the model of a pilot mediation team in Anh Son district. In which, village 4, Linh Son commune is one of the typical villages for the new rural construction and is also a bright spot in security and order in Anh Son district thanks to its good resolution of conflicts and disputes at the grassroots level.
Mr. Tran Huu Dao - Party Cell Secretary, Head of the Front Work Committee and Head of the Reconciliation Team of Village 4 shared: Village 4 has 2 residential clusters (village area and hill area) with 270 households, 1,050 people, of which 280 households are engaged in agricultural production. Determining that "unity is strength", the Party Cell and the Village Management Board always pay attention to closely directing the Reconciliation Team, grasping and resolving conflicts that arise right from the beginning. Then, he gave an example of a conflict that occurred in 2022, between two families sharing a common path. Realizing that the foundation of their house's fence was flooded, the family on this side poured some soil to protect the fence, but the family on the other side thought that this family had bad intentions, intentionally pouring soil to block the way to their house. Knowing the incident, the village's reconciliation team visited both families many times to find out the reason. Then, both sides were invited to the cultural house to reconcile. After analyzing the reasons and feelings, the two households agreed to shake hands to resolve the conflict.
Talking about the establishment of the mediation team, the staff of village 4 said: after being selected by the district to establish the center, all work was carried out in a more orderly and systematic manner. In addition to ensuring a remuneration of 200,000 VND/successful mediation case, the mediation team also received financial support from the district of 3 million VND/year for its operation. “We do not wait for a request for mediation, but when an incident occurs, the mediation team will quickly intervene to resolve it. For difficult cases, the mediation team will use elders and clan leaders to intervene and influence. Thanks to that, basic conflicts are resolved. In 2021, the mediation team of village 4 successfully mediated 4 cases, including 2 land conflicts and 2 civil conflicts. In early 2022, the mediation team successfully mediated 2 cases related to conflicts in residential areas. Each successful mediation case has completed documents, minutes, and signed confirmation between the parties to send to the commune judicial officer,” said Mr. Tran Huu Dao.
Thanks to the good work of reconciliation, creating high consensus in the village, the movements and activities in village 4 have all received the support of the people. For example, in the construction of new rural areas, children far from home and people in the village have socialized the construction of 3 concrete roads with a length of 172m, total cost of 42 million VND; built fences in the cultural house, volleyball court, roofed with corrugated iron, drilled wells with a total cost of 142 million VND. Not stopping there, responding to the movement to build "green, clean, beautiful, bright and friendly" villages and hamlets, people in the village have actively contributed labor and money to build flower beds, buy flower seeds and make green borders at the cultural house, built 6 welcome gates/22 self-governing groups.
Mr. Nguyen Hong Phi - Head of the Justice Department of Anh Son District People's Committee added: Anh Son is the first district in the province to deploy the construction of a model of grassroots mediation teams. Up to now, the mediation teams in Linh Son and Hoa Son communes have all been operating in an orderly manner, with a high rate of successful mediation.
In Dien Chau district, the work of reconciliation has also been paid attention to and taken care of. Some reconciliation teams in areas with many religious people have attracted religious dignitaries to participate, building solidarity between non-religious and religious people. A typical example is in village 2, Dien Ky commune with 372 households, of which 225 households are religious. Party cell secretary Hoang Thi Bich Thuy said: The non-religious people in the village are very united and close-knit. The Party cell committee and the village management board are also very interested in reconciliation work. Any conflicts arising in daily life are quickly grasped and taken care of by the village's reconciliation team. The reconciliation team has 5 people, including the Chairman of the Pastoral Council of Ben Den parish, Nguyen Trung Duc, as a member. The village management board and the Pastoral Council have a harmonious combination, supporting each other in their work.
On average, each year the village mediation team mediates 3-4 cases, and most of them are successful. Thanks to good mediation work, not letting small matters become big, creating solidarity between the village and the neighborhood, the village's activities have developed strongly. 100% of the alleys and roads are concreted, the stadium and cultural house are more than 5,000m2 wide.2was invested in spaciously. In early 2023, people also actively participated in planting more than 100 trees on the occasion of the Steering Committee of "Smart Mass Mobilization" of Dien Chau district coordinating with Ben Den parish to build a model of "civilized parish - green, clean, beautiful".
In Quy Hop district, Dong Tien village, Chau Quang commune is also mentioned as a typical model in grassroots mediation work. Mr. Vi Chien Thang - Head of the Dong Tien village Front Committee said: The village has 114 households, 557 Thai people. Whenever there is a dispute, the village mediation team quickly intervenes, investigates the matter, invites households to come to mediate in a way that both adheres to the provisions of the law and is consistent with the conventions, village rules and the reason and sentiment according to the customs and practices of the Thai people to resolve the matter once it arises. Therefore, in recent years, there have been no complaints or denunciations beyond the level of the village.
Up to now, the province has 3,816 grassroots mediation teams with each team having from 5 to 7 members. Recognizing the importance of mediation work, some localities have given timely instructions to improve the quality of grassroots mediation. Typically, Dien Chau district issued a specific document on the implementation of support levels for mediation teams, including 200,000 VND/case for mediation; support for office supplies is 100,000 VND/month/team. Quy Hop district directed the printing of more than 1,400 copies of training documents on grassroots mediation skills such as "handbooks" with detailed instructions for 214 teams with 1,420 mediators in the area. Tan Ky district organized a grassroots mediation competition to create a forum for exchange and learning, sharing experiences to improve legal knowledge and grassroots mediation skills for mediators; Commend and honor outstanding examples in mediation work...
