CBFM^® Ukraine (online)

MiKK Cross-Border Family Mediation Training (CBFM^®)
for Ukrainian Mediators

Trainers

Ischtar Khalaf-Newsome is Head of Advisory Services and Co-CEO of MiKK e.V. – International Mediation Centre for Family Conflict and Child Abduction in Berlin. She is a cross-border family mediator, family lawyer and MiKK cross-border family mediation (CBFM®) trainer. Prior to joining MiKK in 2014 she practised family law for nine years with Dawson Cornwell, a London based family law firm specialising in international family law and 1980 Hague child abduction cases. Before that, Ischtar worked as a case manager at reunite International in London. She holds an MA in Near & Middle Eastern Studies & Islamic Law (SOAS, University of London) and an MA in German & English (Freie Universität, Berlin). Ischtar qualified as a mediator with the Family Mediators Association (FMA, London) and with Inmedio (Multi-Track Peace Mediation, Berlin). She trained in Child Inclusive Mediation (CIM) with the FMA. Ischtar has developed training content and conducted mediation trainings for MiKK and other institutions (ERA, EJTN) and for EU co-financed projects (LEPCA, VOICE, I-CARE) and has co-conceived EU co-financed projects (i.e. AMICABLE, ACCORD). Ischtar has presented on behalf of MiKK at the EU Parliament, JURI Committee; the Experts’ Meetings EM I &II (London) and the Malta Process Conference of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH). She is Co-editor of Cross-border Family Mediation. International Parental Child Abduction, Custody and Access Cases (Paul, Kiesewetter, Khalaf-Newsome eds., 3rd expanded edition, Metzner Publishing, 2023) in which she co-wrote the chapter on Mediation in Non-Hague Muslim countries and on the MiKK CBFM® Training. She is the author of the chapter on cross-border family mediation in Research Handbook on International Child Abduction. 1980 Hague Convention. Edward Elgar Family Law Series. (Freeman & Taylor eds., Edward Elgar Publishing, June 2023) and has published articles in The Family Law Journal, Spektrum der Mediation and Die (Wirtschafts)Mediation. Contact:

Luiza Romanadze is Attorney, IMI Certified Mediator, trainer, PhD in Law, Associate Professor, Honoured Lawyer of Ukraine, MiKK Ambassador in Ukraine.

President of the Ukrainian Academy of Mediation and Project Lead of the EU-funded initiative “CONSENT: Enhancing the Role of Alternative Dispute Resolution in Ukraine with a Focus on Mediation.”

Co-founder and Honorary Member of the National Association of Mediators of Ukraine, and Chair of the Mediation Committee of the National Bar Association of Ukraine.

Co-author of the Law of Ukraine “On Mediation,” the Code of Professional Ethics for Mediators, and the Core Principles for Training in Basic and Family Mediation Skills.

Shai Ordan specializes in cross-border family mediation and trained with MiKK e.V. in 2013. He has served as Vice President of MiKK and regularly trains the CBFM® model for the MiKK certification as well as ongoing training modules. He recently delivered (with Dr. Jamie Walker) an advanced training for MiKK mediators on the topic “Trapped in Ego: Dealing with Narcissistic Behavior and Attitudes in Cross-Border Family Mediation”. Shai also specializes in international business disputes, including early-stage conflict prevention; he advises executives on corporate governance and leadership dynamics, and trains commercial negotiators and mediators.

 Shai earned an LL.B. with distinction from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and was admitted to the Israeli Bar Association following clerkship at Israel’s Supreme Court. He worked internationally at leading law firms, and in 2014 co-founded his independent practice in Berlin and Tel-Aviv. He is a Court Mediator for family and civil matters for the Israeli courts. He has served as a judge in the commercial mediation competitions of ICC (Paris) and IBA-VIAC (Vienna).

Tetiana Bilyk is an accredited international mediator (2009 CEDR, UK; 2021 MiKK, Germany), trainer and supervisor of mediators; Chairman of the Board of the NGO “League of Mediators of Ukraine”; Chairman of the Board of the NGO “International Training Center “Mediation School”; Co-founder and Member of the Supervisory Board of the NGO “Association of Family Mediators of Ukraine”; Contact of ISS (International Social Service, General Secretariat, Switzerland) in Ukraine within the framework of cooperation on cross-boarding family mediation. Psychologist, psychotherapist.

Dr. Lesley Allport has a long career in mediation spanning the last 26 years. Working initially as a family mediator in the 1980’s, she has been involved in developing new areas of practice, particularly in the context of Special Educational Needs and Disability Conciliation. She mediates in workplace disputes, has experience in community mediation and is trained to mediate in cross border family disputes and parental child abduction cases. Lesley began training mediators 18 years ago. She delivers foundation courses in several contexts as well as training for supervisors and mediators working directly with children and general continuing professional development. She has a keen interest in developing professional standards. She is a Board member of the College of Mediators and currently chairs the Professional Standards Committee. She also sits on the editorial board of the new College journal “Mediation: Theory and Practice”.

Lesley also has an academic interest in mediation. In 2005, she completed a European Masters’ Degree in Mediation, as part of which she developed a model of supervision specific to mediation. In 2016, she successfully completed her Ph.D. at the Birmingham Law School where she was examining the comparative growth of mediation, identifying similarities and differences of practice across a number of contexts of mediation delivery. Contact:

Lisa Parkinson is a grandmother in family mediation, as well as in her own family. 45 years ago, she co-founded the first family mediation centre in the UK and a few years later, helped to set up the first national association of family mediators with a Code of Practice and training programme. Lisa drew from her experience in mental health social work and family therapy to develop a family systems approach to mediation with separated couples, parents and carers, rather than settlement-seeking mediation focused on adult negotiations without considering the child’s right to be heard. Parental conflict harms children’s well-being and development, especially where there is litigation and continuing dispute. Together with five family lawyers in London, Lisa launched a pilot project in 1986 to extend mediation from child-related issues to all issues, including finance and property.

The Family Mediators Association was founded in 1988 (Lisa was appointed director and now a Vice-President), providing cross-disciplinary training in co-mediation on all issues. As a founder member of the European Forum on Family Mediation and World Mediation Forum, Lisa has taken part in conferences and given mediation training in many countries including Argentina, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the US. The 4^th English edition of

her book, Family Mediation, was published in 2020, with seven editions in other languages. Now retired from mediation practice, Lisa continues to give training mainly in child-inclusive mediation (ChiM – children in mediation), so that children and young people can be offered the opportunity to talk with a ChiM-qualified mediator, if they wish, and have their views and suggestions taken into account by their parents. Arrangements agreed within the family work better and last longer than a court order. In 2022 Lisa was delighted to win the National Mediation Significant Achievement Award.

Martina Erb-Klünemann is a German family court judge. She worked as a judge in civil law and criminal law cases at various courts before her appointment as a family judge in 1996. In this capacity she is responsible for international family conflicts pending at Hamm District Court as the centralized court for the District of Hamm Court of Appeals. Because of her wide experience in cross-border family conflicts and her particular interest in international family law and the European peculiarities she is often asked to share her knowledge in Germany and abroad. She was a member of the working group on drafting the Hague Guide to Good Practice on art. 13 (1) (b) of the 1980 Hague Convention as well as of the European Judicial Network Working Group on Family Mediation in International Child Abduction Cases and chairperson of the German Working Group on Implementing the Mediation Process in 1980 Hague Convention Proceedings. Martina Erb-Kliinemann has led the annual German Judges’ Seminars on the Hague Convention on Child Abduction since 2008. She publishes on different aspects of international family law including commentaries on the 1980 Hague Convention and the Brussels IIb-Regulation and on implementing mediation into these proceedings. She is the co-author of a text book on international family law which she wrote together with the lawyer Niethammer-Jürgens. She runs worldwide courses in cross-border family law and training courses on the integration of mediation in addressing cross-border family conflicts. She consults States in improving their national law in order to deal in a more effective way with return proceedings under the 1980 Hague Convention. Her main focus is on strengthening the rights of children and supporting families in finding an amicable solution. Contact: 

Olha Zozulia is a lawyer. She is in charge of operations with the international treaties on child protection sphere in the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine.

Her professional skills and knowledge concern the theme of child protection and child abduction, including procedure of mediation in cross-border family disputes, custody issues and scope of the parental responsibility and other legal representatives of the child, applicable law, jurisdiction, procedure of recognition and enforcement.

Anne-Ruth Moltmann-Willisch, LL.M.(Mich.); former judge at civil courts of Berlin; judge mediator and coordinator of mediation by judges in civil court proceedings in Berlin (2009-2021); Trainer in mediation for judges in Berlin/Brandenburg and the German Judicial academy; member of the scientific advisory board and teaching qualification at the European University Viadrina Frankfurt/Oder; Freelance mediator and chairman of complaints committees (GEMA and DGPT).

Svitlana Stadnyk is a co-founder and Member of the Supervisory Board of the NGO “Association of Family Mediators of Ukraine” (AFMU) and an honorary member of the National Association of Family Mediators of Ukraine. She has contributed to the development of professional standards and the advancement of family mediation in Ukraine.

Svitlana is a family mediator certified in both Ukraine and the United Kingdom, and a MiKK-certified mediator for Hague Convention cross-border child abduction cases. Her work focuses on cross-border family disputes and on strengthening international cooperation in mediation.

 Contact:

Anna Zubachova is Co-founder of NGO “League of Mediators of Ukraine”. Practising family and business mediator, and a mediator for Hague Convention Cross-Border Child Abduction cases certified by MiKK e.v., supervisor and trainer of mediators, psychologist, psychotherapist with 11 years of practical experience.

Magdalena Jańczuk is Co-CEO of MiKK e.V. International Mediation Centre for Family Conflict and Child Abduction since 2019. She has been working at MiKK since 2014. As co-managing director is responsible for the financial and organisational aspects of the association’s work as well as for human resources.

Trained as a mediator and cross-border mediator, she graduated in administration from the Faculty of Administration and Social Sciences at the Warsaw University of Technology (MA).

She has been involved in several EU projects implemented by MiKK at different stages, from planning to implementation (LEPCA II, iCare, ACCORD), as well as being largely responsible for the planning and preparation of the financial plan and implementation of the EU project AMICABLE developed by MiKK, which involved project partners from four EU countries.