UK government confirms plans for compulsory mediation in the County Court and decides against statutory regulation of the mediation sector

The UK government has announced that it is proceeding with plans to introduce compulsory mediation as a mandatory procedural step in all Small Claims in the County Court.  All parties in cases allocated to the Small Claims track (ie most claims valued below £10,000) will be required to attend a free mediation appointment with a … Read more

The UK has signed the Singapore Convention

Just over two months after the announcement that the UK would join the Singapore Convention, the UK government has now taken the first step by signing the Convention. The signing in New York happened with little fanfare but is a welcome confirmation of the government’s commitment. The domestic implementing legislation and court rules now need … Read more

The UK will join the Singapore Convention – so what now?

Following the UK government’s announcement last week that it will sign and ratify the Singapore Convention, many UK and foreign businesses are now turning their minds to what that means for international commercial disputes with a UK connection. The UN Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation establishes a global framework for the direct … Read more

CEDR Mediation Audit results: The post-pandemic state of civil mediation

The Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) has released the results of its latest Mediation Audit, the first since the start of the pandemic. For the past 20 years, CEDR’s biennial surveys of mediators have provided a snapshot of civil and commercial mediation in the UK, identifying key trends and developments.  The latest survey received … Read more

Mandatory mediation: Insights from the LCAM-HSF survey

Herbert Smith Freehills recently partnered with the London Chamber of Arbitration and Mediation (LCAM) to  survey a cross-section of the dispute resolution community on attitudes to compulsory mediation in arbitration and mediation. The results indicate that there seems to be support for some degree of mandatory mediation in both litigation and arbitration, but that effective … Read more