Article 1 : Request for conciliation

The party that wishes to resort to conciliation shall send its Request to the Secretariat of CEPANI.

The Request shall set out Claimant's position and be submitted together with all relevant documents.

Article 2 : Appointment and role of the conciliator

1. The Secretariat of CEPANI shall, as quickly as possible, inform Respondent of the Request. Within fifteen days, Respondent may accept or reject the Request to take part in the attempt to conciliate.

2. If no positive answer is given within that time limit, the conciliation Request shall be considered void. The Secretariat of CEPANI shall inform Claimant accordingly and without delay.

In the opposite case, the Appointments Committee or the Chairman of CEPANI shall appoint a conciliator who shall set a time limit for the parties to present their arguments.

3. The conciliator is free to organise the conciliation proceedings as he sees fit.

Article 3 : Conciliation proposal and minutes

1. After payment by the parties or one of them of the advance provided for under Article 4, paragraph 1 hereinafter, the conciliator shall examine the case and submit a conciliation proposal to the parties.

2. If the conciliation succeeds, the conciliator shall draft and sign, together with the parties, minutes of the conciliation agreement.

3. When his mission ends, the conciliator shall communicate to the Secretariat of CEPANI the minutes, signed by the parties and by himself, that record the success or the failure of the conciliation proceedings. The Secretariat of CEPANI shall then allocate the costs and inform the parties accordingly in writing.

Article 4 : Costs

1. The conciliation costs shall include the conciliator's costs and fees and CEPANI's administrative costs, in accordance with the Schedule of costs that is in force on the day of the submission of the Request.

2. When opening the file, the Secretariat of CEPANI shall determine the advance needed to cover the costs of conciliation.

Unless otherwise agreed, the parties shall pay this advance equally.

3. Should the advance prove to be insufficient, the Secretariat of CEPANI shall request an additional advance that the parties shall pay equally, unless otherwise agreed.

4. The final conciliation costs shall be determined by the Secretariat of CEPANI and borne equally by each of the parties, unless otherwise agreed.

Any other expenses shall be borne by the party who incurred them.

Article 5 : Duties of the conciliator and of the parties

1. The conciliator is bound by strict confidentiality.

2. Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, the conciliator is prohibited from acting as an arbitrator, representative or counsel of a party in judicial or arbitral proceedings relating to the same dispute.

3. No mention may be made in judicial or arbitral proceedings of what was said, done or written in the course of unsuccessful conciliation proceedings.

Article 6 : Notifications and communications

All notifications and communications made in pursuance of these Rules shall be valid if they are made by delivery against receipt, by registered mail, by courier, fax or any other means of telecommunication that proves their dispatch. Such notifications shall be valid if dispatched to the address or last known address of the addressee.

Article 7 : Rules of good conduct for conciliators

Only those persons who are independent of the parties and of their counsel and who comply with the Rules of good conduct set out in Schedule II, may serve as conciliators in conciliation proceedings organised by CEPANI.