PROTOCOL P-26 | Mediation & Third-Party Intervention

Referral to Legal or Regulatory Process Protocol

TRIGGER When mediation fails or is refused; when the issues require a legal or rights-based determination rather than negotiated agreement; when a party has invoked their legal rights.

STEPS

1. Identify when referral to legal or regulatory process is appropriate

   Referral is appropriate when: (a) mediation has been attempted in good faith and failed; (b) a party has refused mediation; (c) the issue involves a rights violation that requires legal remedy; (d) the issue requires a regulatory determination that the SE-GRM system cannot provide; (e) a party has engaged legal representation indicating an intention to pursue legal process.

2. Inform all parties clearly and respectfully

   Inform the affected party: (a) what the next step is and why; (b) what process or institution will handle it; (c) what their rights are in that process; (d) how to access that process; and (e) what the project's obligations are in that process. Do not frame the referral as adversarial. It is an acknowledgement that the issue deserves a formal determination.

3. Provide pathway information to the affected party

   Identify the specific institution (court, NCIP, regulatory agency, ombudsman) and provide: contact information, process overview, any free legal aid resources available, and the project's point of contact during the formal process.

4. Confirm what SE-GRM obligations continue during legal process

   The project's GRM obligations do not end because a formal process has begun. Continued monitoring, signal capture, and community engagement continue. The GRM and the legal process run in parallel.

5. Do not retaliate or withdraw engagement

   Community members who pursue legal processes against a project should not experience withdrawal of GRM services, communication, or community benefits. Retaliation, even indirect, constitutes a serious harm and a significant legal and reputational risk.

6. Monitor the legal process and its community impact

   Track what is happening in the external process. Be alert to signals in the community related to the process. Be ready to re-engage through SE-GRM channels if the legal process creates new concerns or when it concludes.

7. When the legal process concludes, communicate the outcome to the community

   Regardless of the outcome, inform the community of what was decided and what it means for them. Do not allow legal outcomes to become another information gap.

PURPOSE

To define when and how to transition from SE-GRM processes to formal legal, regulatory, or government arbitration processes, ensuring that parties understand their options, that the transition is managed rather than abrupt, and that the project fulfills its obligations regardless of the outcome of external processes.

Roles and Responsibilities

Communicates transition:

Actor: ComRel Officer / PCO
Responsibility: Informs the affected party; provides pathway information; monitors community impact during the external process.

Manages legal obligations:

Actor: Project Manager / Legal Counsel
Responsibility: Manages the project's legal obligations during the external process; ensures the project does not engage in retaliatory conduct.

Receiving:

Actor: External Institution (Court / NCIP / Agency)
Responsibility: Receives the case; provides determination; communicates outcomes.

Field Notes and Adaptation Guidance

• Field Note — Legal referral is not abandonment

  When a concern transitions to a formal legal process, the project's relationship with the affected community does not end. The community still experiences the project's presence. The GRM still has a role. Treating a legal referral as the end of engagement, and withdrawing community relations activities, damages the broader community relationship and signals that the project only engages when it controls the process.

• Field Note — The pathway must be real, not nominal

  'You can take this to court' is not a referral. A referral means providing specific information about how to access the process, what costs are involved, whether free legal aid is available, and how the process works. Without this information, a legal referral is inaccessible to most community members, particularly the most economically vulnerable ones.

• Adaptation Guidance

  In areas with active free legal aid organizations (such as the Public Attorney's Office or NGO legal clinics), pre-establish a referral relationship so that community members can be connected quickly when legal referral is needed. A warm referral to a specific lawyer or organization is far more accessible than a general direction to 'seek legal counsel'.

Required Output / Documentation

• Pathway information provided to the affected party (documented)

• Confirmation that GRM monitoring and community engagement continue during the external process

• Community notification of external process outcome when it concludes