Hehe-Based Mediation
As a kind of alternative mode of dispute resolution, people's mediation adheres to the people-centered philosophy of development and aims to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the people. With the deepening of reform, the people have ever-growing needs regarding democracy, law-based governance, fairness, justice, security and environment. Diverse needs have led to more contradictions and disputes in different fields, and it is difficult for judicial resources to keep up with the growing demands of dispute resolution. People's mediation, underpinned by the Chinese people's love of harmony and idea of settling a case without going to the court, has thus won wide support and played a remarkable role as the "first line of defense" for maintaining social stability.
Tiantai County has endeavored to integrate elements of traditional Chinese culture with people's mediation in recent years. The approach aiming to reduce contradictions at the source, discover disputes in the early stage, address minor matters within the village, and resolve major matters within the town has not only satisfied the diverse needs of the people, but also ensured that contradictions and disputes are smoothly resolved. At present, Tiantai County has developed distinctive local characteristics in its people's mediation system:
Firstly, guided by the Tiantai County People's Mediation Board, with a joint mediation center as the pivot and the village and town people's mediation boards as the basis, a thorough mediation system is established, concentrating the strength of mediation centers, towns, villages and enterprises. With the support of the joint mediation center, mediation teams are dispatched to courts, public security departments, procuratorates, departments for letters and calls and other administrative organs and industrial associations and work in a coordinated manner.
Secondly, efforts are made to explore professional and industry-specific approaches to mediation. In 2010, Tiantai County began to establish professional mediation committees for resolving medical, transportation, labor and various other disputes. There are now 27 mediation organizations across various industries, which have further expanded the coverage of such professional mediation committees.
Thirdly, the local government is proactive in its exploration of new dispute resolution mechanisms. Under the guidance of the new idea that the government purchases public services from the people, the government invited mediators from among the people to engage in mediation work, and founded Hehe mediation studios, building a mediation brand with Tiantai's characteristics.
和合調解
人民調解作為一種非訴訟糾紛解決機制，體現了堅持以人民為中心，維護群眾合法權益的價值追求。隨著改革的深入，人民群眾在民主、法治、公平、正義、安全、環境等方面的要求日益增長。訴求的多樣化導致矛盾糾紛在數量、范圍、領域等方面的擴大化，有限的司法資源難以充分滿足群眾糾紛解決的需求。中國人奉行“和為貴”和“無訟”理念使得人民調解在中國大地上具有深厚的文化支持，受到了人們的高度重視，并取得很大的成就，被稱為維護社會穩定的“第一道防線”。
近年來，天臺縣積極探尋傳統文化與調解文化融合之道。矛盾減少在源頭、糾紛發現在苗頭、小事化解在村頭、大事控制在鎮頭的“四頭工作法”的推行，在滿足老百姓各方面社會訴求的同時，將矛盾化解在無形之中。目前，天臺縣人民調解工作形成了鮮明的地方特色：一是“縱向五級，橫向五聯”的大調解工作體系。在縣人民調解委員會主導下，以聯調中心為樞紐，以鄉鎮人民調解委員會為依托，以鄉鎮調解中心、鄉鎮、村居、企業調解組織為主力，建立了縱向五級調解組織。依托聯調中心，通過在法院、公安、檢察、信訪及其他行政機關、行業協會派駐調解室的方式，全面建立了“訴調、警調、檢調、訪調、政調”橫向五調聯動機制。二是探索專業化、行業化調解之路。從2010年開始，天臺縣在醫療、交通、勞動糾紛等行業建立專業性行業調委會，目前已建立各類行業調解組織27個，進一步拓寬專業性行業調委會的覆蓋面。三是探索新的矛盾糾紛調解機制，以“政府向民間購買公共服務”的新理念，由政府來“搭臺”，請“民間老娘舅”來“唱戲”，建立以“和合”冠名的專職調解工作室，打造具有天臺特色的調解品牌。
