Samenvatting

The option of caucusing – i.e. one-on-one conversations between the mediator and one of the parties – is what makes mediation different from other types of conflict resolution. Both the view that all that is discussed in the caucus should remain confidential and the view that this should essentially be shared with the other party lead to suboptimal results. Economically inefficient outcomes caused by strategic actions by the parties can be avoided if the mediator communicates the information disclosed to him/her in the caucus to the other party in such a way (‘noisy translation’) that this other party cannot use this information to the disadvantage of the disclosing party.