The last few weeks have seen a failure to apologise result in a political crisis, a senior police official being forced to resign, and our Minister for Justice’s already wobbly pedestal threaten to give way entirely beneath him. The coming weeks and months will tell whether the “Minister for Borrowed Time” as he has become…
Recently my good friend Canon Andrew White (aka “the Vicar of Baghdad”, as he is the Anglican priest at St George’s Church, Baghdad) convened a meeting of religious certain leaders from Iraq and Israel, bringing together senior Iraqi Muslim and Israeli Jewish figures in Cyprus for several days of talks about peace. It was by…
Having last week returned to New Zealand from Singapore where I was honoured take part in the launch of the ICC Mediation Rules, I saw first hand the support for mediation in Singapore from powerful institutions like the Singapore Judiciary and the Ministry of Law. Singapore, and my guess is Asia in general, is in the…
Scotland is having a referendum on its constitutional future. As I write this, it is exactly six months until we vote. Whatever the outcome in September’s referendum about independence for Scotland, in this country we will all need to work hard to ensure that we can live well together after the referendum. That this is…
In my previous entry, I wondered about high and low context communication, and what this might mean at the mediation table when we’re not always aware of what is NOT being said. Here, I continue the speculation, this time about and taking that communication and mediation online. The “here” of my title is the world…
It is not an April Fool´s Day hoax. On April first 2014, Brazil will effectively become the 79th country to adopt the United Nations’ Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (also known as CISG(*)). Although Brazil already adopts several principles of the Convention, this is, no doubt, a great step forward, as…
The recent Ontario Superior Court decision of Healy J. in Southlake Regional Health Centre v. Beswick Group Properties touches on a number of issues arising from settlement at mediation. Briefly, this was a landlord and tenant dispute relating to a Medical Arts Building and other development lands. The full factual background can be read by…
Have you ever wondered why the construction industry is still saddled with its culture of adversity, contractual conflict and a “who’s to blame” attitude? Or what causes job disputes to quickly escalate into full-blown claims despite the well intentioned calming efforts of the site managers? The seeds of construction disputes are planted during the formation…
As usual, Confucius said it first: Life is really simple but we insist on making it complicated. This truism is becoming increasingly applicable to mediation law. Take England & Wales for example. In just 20 years, court judgments, procedural rules, orders, cost implications, practice directions, policy statements and other reforms have mushroomed, and keep growing….
This story is for you if: one of the parties to your multi-party case is irrational and an obstacle to settlement; the irrational party is making the case fall apart; walking away could result in a much worse deal for your client. There are several strategies you can deploy to deal with the difficult and…
