MOSCOW, April 5 - RAPSI, Sergei Feklyunin. The Supreme Commercial Court will continue working toward the approval of its court mediation initiative, Chairman Anton Ivanov said at a meeting of the heads of the Moscow and the Central District commercial courts on Friday.

The bill "On Making Amendments to Specific Legislative Acts to Improve Reconciliation Procedures" was approved by the Supreme Commercial Court's plenary meeting and submitted to the State Duma in summer 2012.

The bill calls for introducing court reconciliators in addition to the existing mediators, thus expanding litigators' options to reach an amicable settlement.  According to the bill, court employees and retired judges can act as reconciliators.  So far, public associations and the government have criticized the initiative, Ivanov said.

However, he is confident that this option will be of help to litigators who are totally unprepared and who lack a basic awareness of legal practices.