司法體系內專家家事調解之理念與實務—以臺中地方法院為例

本研究主要是研究司法體系專家家事調解的理念與實務，並以臺中地方法院家事法庭為研究場域，除了解目前台中地方法院家事法庭實施專家家事調解制度之實施狀況外。亦進一步了解家事法庭內之法官及律師、社工師等不同角色及專業背景，對於家事調解意涵之認知。研究結果如下： 1.臺中地方法院實施專家家事調解制度之發展歷史，依時間序可分為六個不同時期階段發展，分別為孕育期、探索期、磨合衝突期、空窗期、實驗期及拙壯發展期等六個不同時期階段。 2. 而法官及調解委員在專業家事調解理念部分有二發現，一為不同專業使用名詞歧異，但不同專業對於家事調解定義概念是相近的；二為對司法體系及調解員對於家事調解之理念認知有其共同性與相異性，共同之認知包括「以專家介入協助」、「考量未成年子女最佳利益」及「解決紛爭」等三面向。而法官與調解員在「夫妻及未成年子女，誰的利益最重要？」、「調解議題處理方式」、「尊重當事人的調解意願與否」及「中立第三者角色」等四面向，則呈現出不同的想法及觀點。 3.合適的家事調解員的篩選，可從其特定專業背景（包括學歷背景、專業證照認可）、專業訓練、工作經驗及其他因素等面向來篩選。研究發現社工、心理諮商、教育、律師、醫師等專業背景，是合適的。然因律師的職業性質與特性，司法體系的受訪者對於法院聘任律師為專業家事調解員有其疑慮。 4.調解員於調解過程扮演的角色，包括掌控整個調解過程者、中立第三者、教育者、子女權益倡導者、促進當事人平權、正向對談者及啟發者等角色。然對於成為「中立第三者角色」，調解員對於在調解過程是否可能中立的想法不同。在「教育者」角色，在實務操作上調解員對於子女如何在雙方當事人婚姻衝突中，要如何因應及處理，少有觸及。 5.研究發現嚴重家暴案件、精神疾病患者、酗酒、心智發展遲緩、法律關係太複雜的案件、吸毒或無調解意願，只是要拖延訴訟者，均不適合調解。而不適合調解個案中，其中以家庭暴力個案是否可以調解爭論最多，臺中地方法院的法官及調解員均認為在「有條件」下，家暴個案是可以調解的，而「調解員的專業能力」及「安全的環境」是二個重要因素。 6.研究發現目前臺中地方法院分案方式未將做不同專業背景做整合分案，與其先前未實施專家家事調解制度前，面臨法官以其法律單一專業處理家事調解調案件，無法解決其多元議題是一樣的困境。 7.目前臺中地方法院的法官及調解員對於「院外調解」機制之進行，呈現出高度擔心及不信任感。 8.對於誰可以進入調解場域的議題，因調解場域的主角為當事人，研究發現律師、家屬、法官原則上均不宜進去調解場域。 9. 研究發現「書寫報告」與「保密」專業倫理原則是不必然相衝突的。書寫報告是調解員一個義務，過程要仍遵守「保密」倫理守則，但「保密」是有範疇的，不是無限上綱的去限制法官完全不能接觸或了解調解過程的。 10. 本研究發現臺中地方法院目前尚無任何共同調解模式出現。然就各團隊進一步去看，兒童福利聯盟團隊及澄清醫院團隊之模式是較趨近於美國的「強制性調解模式」。 11.本研究發現目前臺中地方法院家事調解試辦計劃是一個没有「制度」的制度，臺中地方法院面臨四個困境，包括：一為法院與調解員間對於各自秉持理念不同，調解員似乎只是法院的減少案量的行政工具；二「這是不是一場籃球球員在踢足球的比賽？」的質疑，而且這些球員還是在一個「不標準、設施不週全的球場上打球」。三為缺乏一套對於調解員整體權利義務的具體規定，調解員無所依循；四為法院與不同專業間的合作，非為平等的關係，而是「老大」，使調解員之專業發揮受限。關鍵字：家事調解、家事商談

關鍵字

家事調解

並列摘要

Abstract In this study, we are going to dig into the conceptions and practices of family mediation by the professionals in justice system. The study is conducted in the family court of Taichung District Court. We not only try to understand current situation of professional family mediation implemented by the family court of Taichung District Court, but also try to find out the cognitions of family mediation by different roles with different professional backgrounds in the family court, including judges, lawyers, and social workers etc. Here are the results: 1. The development history of professional family mediation implemented by Taichung District Court can be divided into six different stages: gestation stage, exploration stage, storming stage, window stage, experiment stage, and rapid growth stage. 2. There are two findings in the conceptions of professional family mediation in this study: (1) Different words may be adopted in various domains. However, in these domains, people share similar definition of family mediation. (2) There are both common understandings and different understandings of family mediation between the justice system and the mediator. Common understandings include professional intervention, consideration of underage children’s best interests, and troubleshooting. However, the judges do not share common ideas and view points with mediator in the aspects of interest priority among the couples and their underage children, mediation style, respect of both parties’ willing towards mediation, and the role of indifferent third party. 3. Selection of an appropriate family mediator can be based on their specific professional backgrounds (education background and professional licenses), professional training, work experiences, and some other factors. We find that social workers, mental consultants, teachers, lawyers, and doctors have good professional background for this job. However, lawyers are limited by its occupational characteristics. People working in justice system have expressed their worries about appointing a lawyer as family mediator by the court. 4. The mediator has to play several roles during the mediation, including the one who controls the entire mediation, an indifferent third party, a teacher, an exponential of children’s interests, a promoter of equality, and a positive talker and enlightener. As a indifferent third party, different mediators may have different thoughts on the possibility of being indifferent during the mediation. As a teacher, the mediators know very little about how the children can deal with the conflicts in the marriage. 5. The study also finds that mediation is not a good choice for cases with severe family violence, psychopath, intemperance behaviors, mental retardation, complicated legal relationship, drug, and people without any mediation willing. Among these cases, people are disputing about the possibility of mediation for cases with family violence. The judge and the mediators in Taichung District Court think that the cases with family violence can be mediated conditionally. Professional ability of mediator and a safe environment are two important elements. 6. Our study finds that the current division pattern of Taichung District Court does not integrate the different professional backgrounds. Just like the situation before implementing professional family mediation, the judge has to handle the case with only legal system knowledge available. This fails to solve some complicated problems. 7. Today, judges and mediators in Taichung District show extreme worries and distrusts for mediation out of court. 8. Since both parties are protagonists in the mediation, we find that it’s not appropriate for the lawyers, family members, and judges to join in the mediation. 9. We find no common mediation model in Taichung District Court. If we look into these teams, we can find that the mediation procedures of Child Welfare League’s team and Cheng Ching Hospital’s team are quite similar to the mandatory mediation model in the U.S. 10. We find that the professional ethic principles of writing reports and keeping secrets are not necessary conflicts. Writing a report is a job of mediator. He has to obey the rule of secrecy. Meanwhile, secrecy also has its limit. It can not limit the understanding of mediation by a judge. 11. We also find that the family mediation program by Taichung District Court is a system without rules. It is limited by four aspects: (1). the court does not share a common conception with the mediator. The mediator is just like an administrative utility to reduce the work load of court. (2) Is this a football game played by basketball players? Meanwhile, these players are playing on a non-standard playground. (3) No detailed regulation is available for the rights and obligations of a mediator. (4) The co-operations between the court and other professional units are not equal. The court always plays a role of big brother, which limits the work of professional mediators. Key words: family mediation