Terms of Use

Welcome to the International Mediation Institute (‘IMI’). These terms and conditions outline the rules and regulations for use of IMI’s websites (collectively, ‘Website’) including subdomains, and appropriate engagement with IMI and its users via its social media channels.

The International Mediation Institute Stichting is established as an international foundation under the laws of the Netherlands, with its registered seat at Fluwelen Burgwal 58 2511 CJ The Hague, The Netherlands. Its email address for feedback and for queries associated with these terms and conditions is imisupport@imimediation.org.

These Terms of Use (‘Terms’) have been written to be straight-forward and easy to understand. For this reason, certain sections include a summary, followed by the substantive text. You may also be interested in reading our Privacy Policy at https://imimediation.org/privacy.

These Terms were last updated on 21 February 2024.

Acceptance of Terms

Summary: these terms apply when you use or link to IMI’s website or social media, and are aimed at ensuring that your experience and that of other users is a positive one.  IMI may choose to make some content available to select users–for example, certain documents or parts of the website might only be accessible to IMI Certified and IMI Qualified Mediators, IMI Taskforce or Committee members, or users of mediation services.

By accessing this website, you accept these terms and conditions in full. Do not continue to use the Website if you do not accept all of the terms and conditions stated on this page.

Your access to some areas of the Website may be subject to certain requirements in IMI’s discretion.

Definitions

These apply whether capitalised or not, in the singular or plural.

  • You, your, client, user: the person accessing this website and thereby accepting these Terms
  • International Mediation Institute, Global Pound Conference, Global Pound Conversation, GPC, IMI, we, our: the International Mediation Institute Stichting
  • Party, parties, us: the client, or IMI, or both together
  • Visitor Content: information, data, text, music, sound, photographs, graphics, video, messages, comments, content and materials posted or supplied to IMI for the purpose of posting to the Website or social media

Licence

Summary: IMI owns the intellectual property for material on the IMI website, and you must get permission if you wish to modify or republish it.

Unless otherwise stated, International Mediation Institute and/or its licensors own the intellectual property rights for all material on the International Mediation Institute website. All intellectual property rights are reserved. You may view and/or print pages from https://imimediation.org/ for your own personal use subject to restrictions set in these terms and conditions. You must not, without explicit written permission:

  • Republish material from the Website
  • Sell, rent, or sub-license material from the Website
  • Reproduce, duplicate, or copy material from the Website
  • Misrepresent authorship of content from the Website
  • Redistribute content from IMI unless content is specifically made for redistribution (I.e. sharing of social media posts, or use of presentations or reports specifically designed for re-use and distribution)
  • Create frames around our Website content or use other techniques that alter in any way the visual presentation or appearance of the Website

IMI’s Vision is Professional Mediation Worldwide and the more IMI resources are shared and used, the greater the impact of the Institute as a non-profit Foundation. Our work, such as the IMI Code of Professional Conduct, various criteria emerged by task forces, thought pieces, etc. is available under the Creative Commons Attribution License. When using or referencing our documents, kindly cite the International Mediation Institute, provide a link to our website, and let us know via imisupport@imimediation.org.

User Guidelines

Summary: Be polite, constructive, and respectful when commenting, sharing, or engaging with posts, content, other users, IMI staff or volunteers.  Non-compliance may lead to the deletion of your IMI account/s (where applicable) or comments, at the sole discretion of IMI.

IMI’s Website and social media include social and interactive features, such as the ability to comment, share content, and make information about yourself public. Shared or publicly available information may be used or re-shared by IMI, other users of IMI, or across the internet, and users have should be mindful of this when posting. Users should also be aware that making their profile publicly available may be associated with receipt of unsolicited messages, for which IMI is not responsible. IMI’s Privacy Policy outlines users’ rights, including the ability to place a data access or deletion request under GDPR.

IMI does not screen, edit, publish or review comments prior to their appearance on the website, and comments do not reflect the views or opinions of IMI, its agents or affiliates. To the extent permitted by applicable laws, IMI shall not be responsible or liable for such comments or for any loss, cost, liability, damages or expenses caused and/or suffered as a result of any use of and/or posting of and/or appearance of the comments on this website.

Users are not to engage in any activity, post any content, or register and/or use a username, which is or includes material that:

  • is offensive, abusive, defamatory, pornographic, threatening, unlawful, harmful, vulgar, libelous, deceptive, fraudulent, invasive of another’s privacy, hateful or obscene
  • is illegal, or intended to promote or commit an illegal act of any kind, including but not limited to violations of intellectual property rights, privacy rights, or proprietary rights of IMI or a third party
  • is intended to disrupt or derail the normal communications between users of the Website (e.g. through diversion or monopolisation of discussion threads)
  • includes your password or purposely includes any other user’s password or purposely includes personal data of third parties or is intended to solicit such personal data
  • includes malicious content such as malware, Trojan horses, or viruses, or otherwise interferes with any user’s access to the Website
  • is intended to or does harass or bully other users, including but not limited to Website users, social media users, IMI staff, consultants, contractors, volunteers, Taskforce and Committee members, and Board Members, including via an individual’s social media accounts (such as LinkedIn, WhatsApp, or Facebook)
  • impersonates or misrepresents your affiliation with another user, person, or entity, or is otherwise fraudulent, false, deceptive, or misleading
  • involves the transmission of unsolicited mass mailings or other forms of spam (“spam”), junk mail, chain letters, or similar
  • involves commercial or sales activities, such as advertising, promotions, contests, sweepstakes, or pyramid schemes, that are not expressly authorised by IMI
  • links to, references, or otherwise promotes commercial products or services, except as expressly authorised by IMI
  • interferes with or in any way disrupts IMI’s Website or provision of its services, including activity that tampers with, breaches, or attempts to probe, scan, or test for vulnerabilities in the Website or IMI’s computer systems, network, usage rules, security components, authentication measures or any other protection measures
  • harvests, collects, or stores information about visitors to this Website, the content posted by others on the Website, or use such information for any purpose inconsistent with the purpose of this Website

You acknowledge and agree that engaging in any of the above may result in immediate termination of your IMI account/s (where applicable) and editing or deletion of the offending content. This is at the sole discretion of the International Mediation Institute, and may include removal of related ‘IMI Certified’ and ‘IMI Accredited’ profiles. The user is not entitled to refund of contributions, fees, or donations in association with this removal.

By posting Visitor Content, you grant IMI the royalty-free, unrestricted, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive and fully sub-licensable right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform and display submitted Visitor Content (in whole or part) worldwide and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media, or technology now known or later developed, in connection with the Website. You also warrant that any “moral rights” in posted materials have been waived.

Your password protects your user account, and you are solely responsible for keeping your password confidential and secure. You understand that you are responsible for all use of your username and password on the Website. If your username or password is lost or stolen, or if you believe there has been unauthorised access to your account by third parties, please notify IMI and change your password as soon as possible.

IMI is not responsible for any malfunctions, errors, crashes or other adverse events that may occur from your use of the Website.

Website Links

Summary: IMI does its best to ensure that links found on its website are legitimate, but does not provide any guarantees as to the content of those websites (i.e. if a website we link to gets hacked, IMI is not liable).  Websites linking to IMI must not misrepresent the organisation.

Organisations may link to IMI’s Website or content so long as the link: (a) is not in any way misleading; (b) does not falsely imply sponsorship, endorsement or approval of the linking party and its products or services; and (c) fits within the context of the linking party’s site. No use of the International Mediation Institute’s logo or other artwork is to be used for in-bound linking absent prior written agreement. We reserve the right at any time and in its sole discretion to request that you remove all links or any particular link to our Website. You agree to immediately remove all links to our Website upon such request. We also reserve the right to amend these terms and conditions and its linking policy at any time. By continuing to link to our Website, you agree to be bound to and abide by these linking terms and conditions.

Sites linked to from IMI’s Website are not necessarily reviewed, controlled, or examined by IMI in any way, and IMI is not responsible for the content, availability, advertising, products or other materials of any such linked sites, or any additional links contained therein. If you find any link on our Web site or any linked website objectionable for any reason, you may contact us about this. We will consider requests to remove links but will have no obligation to do so or to respond directly to you.

Website and Account Maintenance

Summary: We will do our best to ensure the information we provide is accurate, complete, and available; however, the website and accounts may be unavailable during maintenance, and IMI reserves the right to take the website offline altogether at its discretion.

Whilst we endeavour to ensure that the information on the Website is correct, we do not warrant its completeness or accuracy; nor do we commit to ensuring that the Website remains available or that the material on the Website is kept up to date. IMI may, at any time, temporarily limit or suspend, in whole or in part, a user’s access to the Website if such user is in breach, or if IMI has reason to believe such user is in breach, of these Terms of Use. IMI may change, add or remove any of the Certification or features available on the Website, or may discontinue the Website as a whole, at any time. IMI shall not be responsible for any outages, technical failures or defects in the Website, including but not limited to the Online Certification.

Copyright Claims

We respect the intellectual property rights of others, and require that Visitors of the Website do the same. If You believe that Your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please forward the following information to IMI via imisupport@imimediation.org.

  • Your address, telephone number, and e-mail address
  • A description of the copyrighted work that You claim has been infringed
  • A description of where the alleged infringing material is located
  • A statement by You that You have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by You, the copyright owner, its agent, or the law
  • An electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest, and
  • A statement by You, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in Your Notice is accurate and that You are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner’s behalf.

Listing of Mediators and Organisations

IMI provides listing services for mediators in two basic categories, IMI Certified and IMI Qualified Mediator, as well as mediator specialisations, provided that the requisite credentialing conditions are fulfilled. IMI likewise provides listing services for implementing organisations which have undergone IMI’s rigorous appraisal process. Payment of an annual listing fee is a requirement for maintaining the IMI listing.

Payment and Refunds

Please note that the various payment options may incur additional charges.

Contributions, fees, and donations paid to IMI are non-refundable except as under applicable laws and regulations.

For payment methods please see here: https://imimediation.org/about/funding/methods-of-payment/.

Tax Residency Information

Depending on your location and the registered address that you provide to IMI, IMI may be required to collect tax-related information from you.

Providing tax information

Providing your tax information is optional. However, if you or your organization are eligible for tax exemptions based on your status, you need to provide in your billing details 1) your full company/sole proprietorship name and 2) registered address, as well as 3) your tax information to be exempt from paying 21% Dutch Value Added Tax (VAT).

Your tax relationship with IMI is based on:

  • The tax information that you submit
  • The country of residency/registration stated in your billing details

This tax relationship determines how VAT is collected and reported. For EU-based customers, your VAT Number is validated using the VIES System. It is important to note that if an EU established customer is not able to provide a valid VAT number, the customer qualifies as a “Consumer” and is due to pay 21% Dutch VAT.

If you are a non-EU business customer (ex. legal entity, lawyer, entrepreneur, etc. registered under the laws of your local jurisdiction) please enter your Tax Identification Number. You must self-attest as a business customer by checking the box below to validate your TIN and remove VAT from your order.

If you are paying on behalf of a taxable legal entity and unsure what your Tax Identification Number is, please refer to this useful OECD Resource, or consult your local tax authority or a tax adviser. IMI cannot provide advice on tax issues. 

If there are reasons to doubt the declared tax status, and as per “Know your Customer Rules”, IMI reserves the right to conduct compliance spot checks and request your latest tax residency certificate/ Tax exemption letter/ Tax registration document, which would prove the declared status. 

Visitor Warranties

You represent and warrant that Your use of the Website shall be in accordance with these Terms of Use and all applicable laws, statutes, rules, regulations, ordinances and policies of all applicable worldwide jurisdictions.

Visitor Indemnification

By agreeing to use the Portal, You agree to defend, indemnify and hold IMI, its affiliates, officers, directors and employees harmless from any and all claims, liabilities, costs and expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising in any way from Your use of the Website, any violation of these Terms of Use by You, or any Visitor Content You post on or through the Website.

Changes to Terms of Use

IMI may change these terms of use from time to time, and without notice. All such changes to these Terms of Use will appear on this page of the website. We encourage you to check for changes to these terms of use regularly. By using the website following any modifications to these terms of use, you agree to be bound by any such modifications to these Terms of Use.

Disclaimer of Warranties

This website, including but not limited to online certification, is provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranty or condition of any kind, either express or implied. Without limitation of the foregoing, IMI specifically disclaims any and all warranties, including, but not limited to: (i) any warranties concerning the availability, accuracy, appropriateness, reliability, timeliness, usefulness, or otherwise of the website, including but not limited to the online certification and web file, and the content thereon; and (ii) any warranties of title, warranty of non-infringement, warranties or conditions of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. The information on the website shall in no event be considered or relied upon as legal advice or as a substitute for seeking the advice of a licensed attorney.

Limitation of Liability

In no event shall IMI or any of its directors, officers, employees, agents, consultants, parents, affiliates, successors, assigns, or content or service providers be liable for any indirect, special, incidental, consequential, exemplary or punitive damages arising from or directly or indirectly related to the use of, the inability to use, or reliance on the website, including but not limited to the online certification, or the content, materials and functions related thereto, including, without limitation, loss of revenue, anticipated profits, business, programs or information, even if IMI or such entity has been advised of the possibility of such damages and regardless of the form of action. Some jurisdictions do not allow the limitation or exclusion of liability for incidental or consequential damages so some of the above limitations may not apply to certain visitors. In no event shall IMI be liable for or in connection with any content posted, transmitted, exchanged, or received by or on behalf of any visitor or other person on or through the website, including but not limited to the online certification and webfile. In no event shall the total liability of IMI to you for all damages, losses, and causes of action (whether in contract or tort, including, but not limited to, negligence or otherwise) arising from these terms and use or your use of the website, including but not limited to the online certification, exceed, in the aggregate, the amount of website use fees, if any, paid by you to IMI to use the website.

Dispute Resolution

In the event of a dispute between You and IMI that cannot be resolved in mediation using the services of an IMI Certified Mediator (in which process You agree to participate in good faith if and when proposed to You), You agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction over all disputes hereunder and venue in the federal and state courts in the State of New York located in New York County.

Miscellaneous

Except for confidential information received in connection with any dispute resolution proceedings, IMI does not wish to receive any confidential or proprietary information from you via the Website or associated online services. You agree that any confidential information you provide outside of such proceedings, including without limitation any concepts, ideas, plans, techniques or any other content from you, may be used by IMI in any manner without restriction.

The failure of IMI to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms of Use shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of these Terms of Use is found to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties’ intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of these Terms of Use remain in full force and effect.

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