As I sat down at my desk the other day to think about what to blog about this month, e- mails and text messages suddenly started pinging into my inbox giving me the rather exciting news that the Minister for Justice had just published the draft Mediation Bill, promised in the Programme for Government set…

This Decree establishes in the French Code of Civil Procedure a Chapter dedicated to the amicable resolution of disputes outside the Courts. Said Decree defines the rules applicable to each of the modes providing for amicable resolution of disputes. The Decree No. 2012-66 (the Decree) mainly enacts rules dealing with certain aspects of mediation in…

The recent decision in Gao Hai Yan & Anor v Keeneye Holdings Ltd & Others [2011] HKEC 514, (the “wining and dining” mediation case) has generated a considerable amount of interest in the murky depths of the Arbitration-Mediation (“Arb-Med”) facility. Practitioners and academics are still engaged in deep discourse nearly two months after the case…

On December 15, 2011, the Act for the Promotion of Mediation and other Procedures of Extrajudicial Conflict Settlement (Gesetz zur Förderung der Mediation und anderer Verfahren der außergerichtlichen Konfliktbeilegung) was passed in the “lower chamber” of the German parliament (Deutscher Bundestag). The adoption of the Act was based on the recommendation of the Legal Committee…

As we head into a new year of mediation and managing conflict in the world it strikes me that, at least in this little corner of Europe, the discipline of mediation itself is at a crossroads. A combination of political and socio-economic circumstances and potential legal developments could lead to mediation taking a greater part…

On November 29, 2011, the European Commission announced (MEMO/11/840) its proposals for a new Directive on consumer ADR and a new Regulation on consumer ODR. With some countries in the Eurozone in deeper financial trouble than ever, and the future of the EU uncertain, the Commission has just sent a clear signal that the promotion…

The evolution of society, its population growth and the consequent increasing complexity as to relationships made it necessary that the natural right to justice become a right guaranteed by the State. That came about due to the fact man used to make justice himself using physical violence and imposing his own interests. Access to Justice…

The modern mediation movement was established in Singapore in the mid-1990s. I say modern because historically, the population of Singapore (both indigenous and migrant) practiced their own forms of mediation. With colonization came the English common law and court system that unfortunately saw the reduction, if not demise, of these local forms of mediation. When…

Australia is passing legislation encouraging parties to most forms of civil disputes to take genuine steps to resolve their dispute prior to commencing litigation. The idea came from a report of NADRAC (National Alternative Dispute Resolution Advisory Council) of which I am the new Chair. NADRAC advises the Commonwealth Attorney-General and has been in existence…