The ‘Go to Mediation’ project produced a youtube of how a dispute between Santa and the Elves can escalate – and with mediation, resolve. Its context is seasonal, the message is straight-forward; mediation provides a quicker, cheaper and less stressful, confidential process compared with litigation at court.
Civil and commercial mediation, is it time for a radical overhaul?
Kate Aubrey-Johnson explores what we can learn from the use of mediation in Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Disputes As all practising lawyers are aware, mediation provides a mechanism for resolving legal disputes. However, all too often, mediation is only considered once parties have embarked on litigation. In my experience, the earlier a dispute can […]
Mediation pilot – Court of Protection
On 1st October 2019, a nationwide mediation pilot was launched to run for approximately 18 months for cases which have been issued in the Court of Protection. This was foreshadowed earlier in the year at the Roundtable event. Dr Jaime Lindsey of the University of Essex will lead the independent, formal evaluation of how Court […]
Ordering ADR – the Early Neutral Evaluation case
Introduction Earlier this year (February 2019) I gave a brief summary of themes arising out of the Final Report of the Civil Justice Council’s ADR Working Party “Alternative Dispute Resolution and Civil Justice“ (December 2018). The first topic was whether the courts should be able to order ADR/mediation as a precondition for any further step in […]
Legally Binding Agreements
Three pieces of news before autumn: heads of terms agreed at a mediation were found to constitute a legally binding contract between the parties in the Abberley case; the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) is running a ‘proof of concept’ pilot as it decides whether to introduce formal mediation as one of its routes to dispute resolution […]
Mediation – a comparative Review
The Scottish Government – Judicial Analytical Services specifically – has undertaken a Review of evidence on mediation in civil justice systems from USA and Canada to Australia via Ireland, England and Wales. The purpose was to better understand the ‘international landscape of mediation, its operation and effectiveness’. Co-incidentally or not, there is now a proposed […]
Mediation: Participation
On 4th June 2019, two important reports were launched. Margaret Doyle’s report A Place at the Table focuses on the participation of young people with SEND in the mediation process and Charlotte May’s Court of Protection: Mediation Research considers how mediation can be used for adults who lack mental capacity to make a specific decision.
‘No fault divorce’ – finally
Mediation – meeting sectors’ needs
In Singapore, the Singapore Mediation Centre (SMC) has dealt with over 4000 mediations since it opened in 1997 and construction disputes currently make up around 40% of the cases heard there each year. In March 2019, the Singapore Construction Mediation Centre (SCMC) was set up by the Singapore Contractors Association in response to demand from […]
Housing Disputes – a new system?
David Watkinson examines proposals to establish a Housing Complaints Resolution Service (HCRS) as put forward by the Government Introduction The recent Mediation World newsletter included an article by Bill Marsh (8/2/2019) headed “Housing dispute resolution proposals will impact developers” (and landlords as it appeared). A planning law expert was quoted as describing the proposals as […]
