civil conciliation; civil mediation
A legal procedure in which a neutral third party helps parties in a civil dispute reach a settlement, often used as an alternative to litigation.
Before filing for civil mediation, I consulted a lawyer.
This case was resolved through civil conciliation.
民事訴訟 is a civil lawsuit decided by a judge, while 民事調停 is a non-adversarial settlement process facilitated by a mediator.
調停 is the general term for mediation; 民事調停 specifically refers to mediation in civil matters.
Compound of 民事 (civil affairs) and 調停 (mediation, arbitration).