For the fi rst time since mediation was introduced in the Code of Civil Procedure in 2005, the Polish legislator recognized the need to develop comprehensive changes in the procedure. Since the 1 January 2016 amendment, judges are expected to take a more important part in encouraging mediation. Th ese amendments assume that citizens will be more willing to participate in mediation when they are aware of what it is and the procedure of mediation is better known. Th e amendments saw mediation as

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... remedy to lighten the work of the courts. Th is article attempts to analyze the changes from the judges' point of view and their experience with mediation. In particular, the article identifi es barriers in directing cases to mediation recognized by judges on the basis of the law before the amendments. Th ese considerations also shall indicate whether the current shape of the procedures, evaluated by the judges, has a chance to shorten disputes, improve court proceedings and reduce the cost of lawsuits.