[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 104 (Wednesday, May 31, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Page 30959]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-8382]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Posting in Final Form of Three Documents Created by Subcommittees 
of the Interagency ADR Working Group (``IADRWG'') Steering Committee 
(``Steering Committee''), a Group Of Federal Subject Matter Experts

SUMMARY: The first document, ``Protecting the Confidentiality of 
Dispute Resolution Proceedings: A Guide for Federal Workplace ADR 
Program Administrators'' (``Confidentiality Guide''), provides 
practical guidance to program administrators on the application of the 
confidentiality provisions of the Administrative Dispute Resolution Act 
of 1996, 5 U.S.C. 574, to Federal workplace dispute resolution 
programs. The second document is the ``Guide for Federal Employee 
Mediators'' (a supplementation and annotation of the 2005 Model 
Standards of Conduct for Mediators issued by the American Arbitration 
Association, American Bar Association, and the Association for Conflict 
Resolution), which is for use by federal employee mediators. The third 
document is the ``Guide for Federal Employee Ombuds'' (a 
supplementation and annotation of the Standards for the Establishment 
and Operations of Ombuds Offices issued on February 9, 2004 by the 
American Bar Association), prepared by the Steering Committee in 
conjunction with the Coalition for Federal Ombudsmen, for use by 
federal employee ombuds. Complete copies of each of the three final 
documents can be found at the IADRWG Web site, http://www.adr.gov 
(click on ``Guidance''), or may be requested in hard copy from Hon. 
Richard C. Walters, Administrative Judge, U.S. Department of Veterans 
Affairs Board of Contract Appeals (09), 810 Vermont Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20420, telephone 202-273-6747.
    In a Notice in the 70 FR 67901, Nov. 9, 2005, the Steering 
Committee invited interested individuals or organizations to submit 
comments, within 30 days, on the documents for consideration before 
they were posted in final form. Complete copies of the three draft 
guides to which the comments were addressed, as well as a summary of 
the comments received and disposition thereof for each guide, are 
posted at http://www.adr.gov (click on ``Library/Archives'').

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Authority: The Administrative Dispute Resolution Act of 1996, 5 
U.S.C. 571-584, requires each Federal agency to promote the use of ADR 
and calls for the establishment of an interagency committee to assist 
agencies in the use of ADR. Under this Act, a Presidential Memorandum 
dated May 1, 1998 created the Interagency ADR Working Group, chaired by 
the Attorney General, to ``facilitate, encourage, and provide 
coordination'' for Federal agencies. In the Memorandum, the President 
charged the Working Group with assisting agencies with training in 
``how to use alternative means of dispute resolution''. The three 
documents are designed to serve this goal.
    Executive Overview of the Confidentiality Guide: This document 
provides practical guidance to Federal administrators on the 
application of the confidentiality provisions of the Administrative 
Dispute Resolution Act of 1996 to Federal workplace dispute resolution 
programs. It extends the guidance issued by the Federal ADR Council, 
Report on the Reasonable Expectations of Confidentiality Under the 
Administrative Dispute Resolution Act of 1996, 5 FR 83085, Dec. 29, 
2000 (``the 2000 ADR Guidance''), which also may be found at http://www.adr.gov (click on ``Guidance''), and is designed to be used in 
concert with the confidentiality provisions of the ADR Act as well as 
agency confidentiality policies and guidance. The document describes in 
practical, non-legal terms the nature and limits of confidentiality in 
Federal ADR proceedings, and provides suggestions to program 
administrators on how to ensure appropriate confidentiality is 
maintained when ADR is used in workplace programs. The topics addressed 
by the Guide include confidentiality during the various stages of an 
alternative dispute resolution proceeding, confidentiality agreements, 
record-keeping, program evaluation, access requests, and non-party 
participants.
    Executive Overview of the Guide for Federal Employee Mediators: 
This document builds upon the 2005 Model Standards of Conduct for 
Mediators (``Model Standards'') issued by a joint committee of three 
major nationwide dispute resolution organizations (American Arbitration 
Association, American Bar Association, and Association for Conflict 
Resolution). The Guide sets forth the Model Standards in their entirety 
and provides further explication through Federal Guidance Notes for 
Federal employee mediators for mediations they undertake for the 
Federal government. The Federal Guidance Notes include discussion of 
impartiality, conflicts of interest, confidentiality, and advertising 
and solicitation.
    Executive Overview of the Guide for Federal Employee Ombuds: This 
document builds upon the February 9, 2004 Standards for the 
Establishment and Operations of Ombuds Offices (``Ombuds Standards'') 
issued by the American Bar Association. The Guide sets forth the Ombuds 
Standards in their entirety and provides supplementation through 
Federal Guidance Notes for specific areas unique to federal Ombuds 
practice. The Federal Guidance Notes include discussion of limitations 
on ombuds' authority, confidentiality, reporting, and record-keeping.

Aloma A. Shaw,
Staff Assistant, Office of Dispute Resolution, U.S. Department of 
Justice.
 [FR Doc. E6-8382 Filed 5-30-06; 8:45 am]
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