CIArb consultation on ADR Policy: Mandatory mediation

The UK Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has put out a call for evidence to inform the Government’s ADR policy development. Within this call is a particular interest in evidence on the introduction, efficacy, benefits and pitfalls of mandatory mediation.

To respond to this call for evidence, CIArb is collecting evidence on ‘mandatory’ mediation from all over the world. It is already clear that there is considerable diversity in what is meant by ‘mandatory' mediation. We are therefore looking for precise, clear evidence on what opt-in / opt-out schemes, incentives and sanctions have been trialled, or are being used in different jurisdictions, and what impact these processes or schemes have had; whether good, bad or ‘interesting’.

It is important to note that whilst every mediator and mediation provider has opinions about the extent to which parties should be encouraged, persuaded, or even forced to at least attempt mediation, the amount of real evidence on how this is being done is fairly slim. Evidence-based studies of the impact, not just in terms of party opinion surveys, but of hard data on take up, savings, settlement rates etc. seems to be even harder to come by. That is why we are calling on our members, and those interested in CIArb worldwide, to help build the evidence base – not just to inform this one call in the UK, but to help build a better evidence base across the world.

The scope includes the civil, family and administrative sectors; the criminal and religious sectors are excluded. However, if you have exciting/innovative information on these sectors that you believe is relevant to other sectors, please include this in your response.

Click here for the UK Ministry of Justice Call for Evidence Survey