Machteld Pel has been working for the Netherlands judiciary for thirty years. She was a judge at the Arnhem District Court and vice-president at the Arnhem Court of Appeal until the first of March 2010. Additionally, from 2009 until the beginning of 2010, Machteld Pel was the director the Netherlands court-connected mediation agency (Landelijk bureau Mediation naast rechtspraak (LBM)). In this capacity she took the lead in implementing referral to mediation within the Netherlands Judiciary.
As a judge she was responsible for the administration of justice of mainly commercial and other civil cases. She developed the method and corresponding training ‘conflict diagnosis’. In addition, she organized and gave direction to many different research projects on ‘referral to mediation’ and ‘customized conflict resolution’.
Since April 2010 she is a substitute justice at the Arnhem Court of Appeal. She conducts peer reviews and supervises judges. She also trains judges in order to improve their conflict management and interpersonal skills.