Know Justice, Know Peace: Further Reflections on Justice, Equality and Impartiality in Settlement Oriented and Transformative Mediations

In the conversation (or debate) on mediator responsibilities and justice, this Article argues that as mediators we should have a concern for the justness of the outcome of the mediations in which we serve. I have high hopes and expectations for mediation as one important aspect of what I see as a larger and increasingly essential project of peacemaking. But last summer, when I was teaching a basic mediation training course, and I asked my students if they understood themselves to be "peacemakers," they were almost uniformly resistant to the notion. They saw peacemakers as almost "spineless," certainly "wishy-washy," and people who would do anything merely to stop an immediate conflict.

The idea of "peace" seems to be much more easily understood in its most narrow, "no bullets-flying" form and most easily connected with "order" rather than "justice."