International family disputes are often complex due to the interplay of different legal systems. A complex legal situation tends to make judicial proceedings lengthy and costly. There is also a risk that adversarial proceedings brought in different countries might give rise to contradictory decisions which, in the worst case, could lead to a stalemate in the case. As a complement to legal proceedings, mediation can help avoid these complexities by enabling the parties to a conflict to arrive at a legally acceptable agreement in a few sessions. Less time spent on a court case would, of course, also mean lower legal fees for the participants.

In countries that are not party to international treaties on family law, the content of a mediated agreement on custody and contact and other related matters can nonetheless be recognised and enforced with the help of relevant legal instruments.

Family mediation permits legal questions to be tackled within the broader perspective of the daily life of the people in conflict.

It allows all concerns that are important to the participants to be included in the discussions, and may also permit the inclusion of children, or of persons who are important in the lives of the children and the parents, in the process. For example, it can give a voice to people from the familial, religious or social environment who play a significant role in the family life.

In creating a space where the expression of anxieties, worries and doubts of each participant are facilitated, family mediation provides both parties with an opportunity to define and organise the exercise of joint parenting. Proposed solutions can then be tested and modified if necessary.

The process is respectful of the availabilities and capabilities of both parents, while also respecting the right of the child to developmental security and to maintaining links with both parents where that is both safe and possible.

Geographic distance between two parents makes communication and the organisation of family life more difficult, and mediation offers parents time to discuss in detail all the different options for organisation of parental responsibilities such as how to maintain and nurture cross-border parent-child contact.

Families that undergo cross-border conflicts are often multilingual and multicultural. Cultural differences can play a large role in the nature of a conflict, particularly around questions relating to the children. Parents naturally want their children to follow their own cultural practices; the assumption by one parent that the children will be relocated to another country creates fear that they will not be able to maintain links with their cultural and religious heritage.

Mediators are sensitive to questions of cultural diversity and integrate them into the discussions so that the parents can voice what is important to them regarding, for example, the education of their children.

Mediation thus also provides an opportunity for taking fundamental aspects of a communitarian culture into consideration while respecting the rights of the people who come to mediation.

Some parents believe that a mediator who shares their cultural and linguistic background will be better at identifying and understanding the conflicting positions resulting from a family breakdown, as well as what is really at stake. They may therefore select mediators whose cultural and religious background reflects theirs.

Mediation can also be carried out with the help of translators or other third parties, for example a cultural interpreter or a person sharing the same cultural origin, in order to facilitate communication. These people are also bound to confidentiality on what is said during mediation.

In a situation where one of the parents is anxious about the possible loss, relocation or non-return of a child, mediation enables concerns to be expressed and discussed with the other parent, who may be unaware of it until then. Thus, mediation can defuse frightening thoughts, and it often confirms that both parents are equally concerned about the well- being of the child.

A mediator can provide information about the potential administrative, legal and psychological consequences associated with a hasty departure of a child to another country and thus prompt any parent contemplating such an action to reassess the situation.