Days after June’s UK Brexit Referendum, US Secretary of State John Kerry advised that: It is absolutely essential that we stay focused on how, in this transitional period, nobody looses their head, nobody goes off half-cocked, people don’t start ginning up scatterbrained or revengeful premises. Yet since then prominent voices on both sides have engaged…

With the Rio 2016 Olympics still on some of our minds, mediation in Brazil may seem like a star shining far, far away. However this distance may be closer than we think as Brazil is a country where new approaches and modalities are starting to be used to deal with disputes because, among other things,…

It’s that time of year again! Mediation Awareness Week is about to kick off in Ireland, the UK and many other countries around the world. An enormous range of activities are being held to draw the attention of members of the public to mediation and its potential for resolving disputes. In Ireland alone these include…

This blog synthesises some remarks I have made recently to policy-makers in Scotland. As I reflect on things, there are a lot of issues in the civil justice system in my country which remain of interest and concern. Not least, the number of ordinary folk caught up in the court system, paying a lot of…

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), Government of India, notified the “Companies (Mediation and Conciliation) Rules, 2016” on September 9, 2016. With the publication of these Rules, Central Government introduces a structure of setting up of a panel of mediators or conciliators who will have the role to communicate the view of each party in…

A few months ago I painted a not-terribly-flattering picture of Scottish justice as experienced by small claimants – (Oiling the Wheels of the Justice System). Seen through the eyes of a mediator (and ex-lawyer) the language, practices and architecture seem calculated to confuse those most in need of assistance and clarity like unrepresented parties and…

The Olympics have come and gone with all of the emotion and inspiration they bring. In our recent, fully-subscribed, residential Summer School on mediation skills for leaders, we reflected on the learning from Rio. We watched a video replay of the men’s taekwondo -80kg final in which Team GB’s Lutalo Muhammad lost to his Ivory…

This post will be the first of a series focusing on individual aspects of regulatory robustness, as introduced in previous blogs by Nadja Alexander and applied in the context of Ireland by the two of us in our last post. With so many areas to focus on, it was difficult to choose one to begin…

We first worked together in the competition law department of an international law firm. 14 years have since passed – at a spirited pace – and we now find ourselves, for an assortment of reasons and opportunities, working in mediation. On a rainy summer’s day in London, I met with Suzanne Rab, a barrister at…

What makes good mediation law? For those of you who have been following the plot, you will recognise this as the second in a series of three posts introducing what is now called the RRR — Regulatory Robustness Rating for mediation jurisdictions. You may also notice the name change. Yes, what originated as the Mediation…