After many years the proclamation of the "Charter of the Rights of citizens and consumers" involving among the fundamental rights "the right to claim damages and alternative dispute resolution," Cittadinanzattiva strong experience gained on prevention and management of conflict, agrees to comply with this handbook in accordance with the provisions of the European Commission Recommendation 2001/310/EC (Principles applicable to court bodies involved in the consensual resolution of consumer disputes).

 
Download the Charter of conciliation (italian version) and read following principles that inspire it:

1. Civic participation

Conciliation as an alternative method to the ordinary court for the resolution of individual and collective conflicts, allows you to enable new forms of civic participation and of performing functions in the public interest on the side of protection of rights, in line with what is recognized art. 118 last paragraph of the Italian Constitution. It is in this spirit that Cittadinanzattiva promotes, in particular, the tool joint mediation as a form of real commitment on the side of protection of individual and collective rights, directed to involve new skills and competencies.

2. Integrated protection

Mediation is one of the opportunities offered by Cittadinanzattiva protection of the rights within the system PiT (integrated project of protection) on the national territory. Reconciliation allows you to enable the integrated protection, ie the possibility to choose the most effective tool for better protection of rights. The scenario of integrated protection will be offered in a comprehensive and clear way to citizens that - turning to the PiT system – will ask for assistance to Cittadinanzattiva for the solution of conflicts.

3. Transparency

In conducting conciliatory activities Cittadinanzattiva ensures appropriate transparency on procedures specified by the different joint protocols. It is possible to see on the site www.cittadinanzattiva.it:

• updated lists of protocols signed;

• updated lists of accredited mediators;

• recurring questions and answers about the operation of the settlement procedure;

• telephone numbers, e-mail, fax to obtain detailed information and possible assistance.

In its social financial statements Cittadinanzattiva annually reports organization activities in the field of conciliation.

4. Economy

Assistance in the process of complaint, the application for conciliation and of course of that is totally free. The dispute is discussed in the conciliation with the commitment to respect the time limits set forth individual protocols (times vary according to the procedures, but stood between 30 and 90 days) for the conduct of proceedings at every moment: examination of documentation, setting of the session communications to the citizen, sending the report for subscription. Cittadinanzattiva undertakes in this way to ensure saving not only economic, but also in time, as every consumer citizen is entitled to see recognized and respected at all times of the relationship with the donor company, the value of his time.

5. Equity

During the discussion of conciliation, the conciliator explains with language that is clear and understandable:

• Citizens have the opportunity to accept or reject the proposed solution;

• the solution found may be more or less favorable than the results that could be obtained in case of judicial proceedings;

• activation of the procedure does not preclude the possibility of resorting to judicial proceedings because it is possible to withdraw at any time before the signing of the text that defines the dispute in the manner specified by individual regulations conciliatory. It is possible to resort to legal remedies even in the presence of unreached verbal agreement between the parties. It is without prejudice still possible to sue for recognition of the greater damage even after positive conciliation report;

• during the course of the settlement procedure is always possible to get to know to Cittadinanzattiva their point of view on the ongoing negotiation.

6. Simplification

The operation of the settlement procedure and all records and documents necessary to enable (regulation, claim form, application form, verbal) are characterized by simplicity and easy availability, compilation and dispatch. They are preferred economic forms of sending to the secretariats of conciliation activated at companies such as fax, toll-free, e-mail. Any communication to the citizen by Cittadinanzattiva is carried out with clear and understandable language, with particular attention to the elderly citizens and foreign.

7. Training

The conciliators are formed with courses agreed upon by Parties to the Protocol and are identified on the basis of expertise not necessarily legal sharing of the mission, personal attitudes. The National Office of conciliation ensures conciliators constant updates on specific issues being conciliatory agreements; contributes at networking the experience of different mediators and promotes spaces and opportunities for training (national and local meeting) to spread knowledge of tools for the management of conflict (ADR-Alternative dispute resolution).

8. Impartiality

The mediator of Cittadinanzattiva does not decide for the citizen but identifies, through a serious negotiation with the conciliator of the company, the fairest solution to propose to the citizen. In any way he forces the choice of the citizen, he provides a reasonable time for the examination of the proposed solution. It also provides the citizen with all information needed to understand the proposal negotiated. The mediator expresses to national decision makers his comments on the functioning of the procedure, to allow adequate monitoring of operation and the respect of protocols signed.

9. Discretion

Cittadinanzattiva guarantees the confidentiality:

• Data withheld to assist in reconciliation;

• assessments carried out in the negotiation;

• the reports drawn up at the conclusion of conciliation.

The analysis of the problems that emerged from conciliation will requests anyway Cittadinanzattiva to call up the company interested in improving quality standards of its service through tools such as withdrawal from the Protocol, suspension, warnings, prosecutions even of a collective reporting to authorities regulatory authorities or other actions to be evaluated in cases of violation of any of the verbal protocols and of conciliation.

10. Innovation

It is of interest for Cittadinanzattiva to explore new fields of activation of conciliation and other forms of individual and collective conflict prevention, particularly in the services provided by the public administration, in order to innovate and expand forms of protection through the promotion of participation civic.

(last update: March, 2013)