Second Civil Mediation Council National Conference on the Future of Civil Mediation, Birmingham
8 May 2008

Pamela Lyall reports:

This was an excellent conference, full of fascinating talks about the role and place of mediation in the civil court system. In particular, there were contributions from Jeremy Tagg, Head of ADR Policy and Projects in the Ministry of Justice, who spoke about low cost mediation services and fast and multi-track approaches, and from His Honour Judge Oliver-Jones from Birmingham who spoke enthusiastically about the active role of the judiciary in promoting mediation. The judge went so far as to speak of the need to move away from the adversarial approach and the need for education of litigants, lawyers and the judiciary. The Master of the Rolls, Sir Anthony Clarke, gave what the chairman, Lord Justice Brooke described as a “clarion call” about mediation and its role as a sensible way to go forward in the justice system (see above). He was clear that directing mediation is not contrary to Article 6 of the Human Rights Convention. He also suggested that the costs of mediation might be costs in the cause in the event of non-resolution. Lord Slynn, former judge in the European Court of Justice, said that mediation was quite the best way of dealing with a vast number of disputes.

There were several other interesting contributions about standards and regulation and from Colin Stutt, of the Legal Services Commission. A leading insurer, David Fisher of AXA, spoke of the common sense which mediation introduced and was supported by a senior solicitor who acts for claimants, Martin Cockx. The work of the Lagos Multi-Door Courthouse in Nigeria, the Karachi Centre for Dispute Resolution and peer mediation in Michigan stirred us to think beyond our own shores.

Click here to access the Civil Mediation Council website.