Mediation as a strategic form of conflict resolution in agricultural cooperatives

Abstract Agricultural cooperatives are subject to the so-called Crisis of the Judiciary, which is marked by the length of proceedings, high costs, excessive bureaucratization, and diversity of demands that are not always the comprehension of the judge. On the other hand, the cooperative construction of the solution of a conflict is consistent the nature of the cooperatives and their social function. This paper aims to indicate the advantages of using mediation as a strategic form of conflict resolution in agricultural cooperatives. It starts from the jurisprudential research of appeals brought in the TJPR between 08/2016 to 08/2017 to demonstrate, in quantitative terms, that the conflicts brought to the Judiciary, in the analyzed context, are not resolved in an advantageous way to the agricultural cooperatives. Then, based on a theoretical approach and the interrelation between the topics covered, it seeks to observe the advantages and disadvantages of mediation applied to conflicts in cooperatives. The research revealed the predominant insurgence by cooperatives in relation to decisions a quo, and the high unsuccess rate regarding appellate decisions which are mostly unfavorable for cooperatives. Further, it highlights many limitations in taking disputes to court, which are practically eliminated by mediation.