In Malta, mediation is regulated by the Mediation Act (Chapter 474 of the Laws of Malta) which came into force. on the 21st December, 2004. The Malta Mediation Centre was set up on the 7th July, 2005 when the first Board of Governors of the Centre was appointed. The Centre, which is a body corporate with distinct legal personality, was set up for the purpose of providing a forum where two or more parties in dispute or in litigation may voluntarily refer or be referred by the Court or other adjudicatory authority, in order to resolve their dispute by mediation, namely, the process in which a mediator, duly accredited by the Centre, acts as an impartial third party with a view to facilitating negotiations between litigants in order to assist them resolve their dispute by reaching a voluntary and timely agreement. The principal Act was amended by Act IX of 2010 principally for the purposes of transposing into our legislation the provisions of Council Directive 2008/52/EC on Certain Aspects of Mediation in Civil and Commercial Matters. The amending Act came into force on 14 January 2011 by L.N. 10/2011. The provisions of the Directive which regulate cross-border disputes were extended to apply also to domestic cases. In view that the provisions of our Mediation Act were, by and large, compliant with those of the Directive only a few minor amendments were required to be made to the principal Act as a result of the adoption of the Directive.