The “Italian mediation explosion” attracted a lot of attention from the international mediation community. The mediation explosion came to a sudden halt in December 2012, when the Italian Constitutional Court ruled that the provisions had been unconstitutional. Just recently, on September 20, 2013, a new regulation came into effect, again opting for mandatory mediation, but…

From the Samoan Observer 28 August 2013 Chief Justice, His Honour Patu Tiava’asue Falefatu Sapolu yesterday launched Samoa’s Mediation Rules 2013 during a gathering at the Samoa Tourism Authority (STA) fale. Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi was among Cabinet Ministers and senior government officials present. Also present was the Speaker of the House, La’auli Leuatea…

From next Monday, 9th September, the brand new Insolvency Service of Ireland (ISI) (www.isi.gov.ie) will begin accepting applications for recourse to new debt resolution mechanisms which have been created by the Personal Insolvency Act, 2012 which became law on 26th December 2012. This long overdue response to the increasing levels of personal and property-related debt…

This is the first of a series of four blog postings written by Nadja Alexander , Michael Leathes , Tina Monberg and Irena Vanenkova. Achieving the promise of mediation in conflicts that threaten the stability of societies and economies is one of the most important challenges of our time. Inspiring progress has been made in…

Co-Author Lughaidh Kerin, NUI Galway The School of Law, National University of Ireland, Galway hosted in association the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre, NUIG and the Irish Centre for International Family Mediation a Conference on Mediation in Cases of International Family Conflict and Child Abduction on a typically damp Saturday in May in the…

This month of May witnessed the launch of the India International ADR Association (IIADRA). And what a blast it was! Judicial luminaries, leading lights of the legal profession, business leaders and politicians all descending upon the gorgeous port city of Kochi on the southwestern Indian coast in the state of Kerala. At first glance Kochi…

Another new mediation venture in Scotland: last week saw the launch of University of Strathclyde Mediation Clinic (http://www.strath.ac.uk/humanities/lawschool/mediationclinic/ ). While by no means a new idea, it’s the first in this jurisdiction. The response took us by surprise. We were graced with the presence of the University’s Principal, a judge, lawyers, sponsors, advice agencies, academics…

As Ireland again, or still, struggles with its socio-political identity, its legal and moral values, and the role of the Catholic church in all of this, it seems like only yesterday the debate raged about the constitutional referendum which, in 1996, introduced divorce and, with it, the right to remarry into Irish law. In the…

In what I hope readers of this blog will consider a deft segue, I want to shift from the successful judicial mediation that I highlighted last month to one that didn’t proceed quite so smoothly. Deals negotiated in mediation tend to hold or, at least, that’s been the conventional wisdom. The theory is that because…