The last year has seen a notable increase in focus on the role of ADR in the English civil justice system, from both the judiciary and government.

Amongst the various moving parts in what is becoming a crowded landscape of developments are:

• the Master of the Rolls’ vision for out-of-court resolution options to be fully embedded throughout the court system, rather than an ‘alternative’ to it
• the Civil Justice Council’s in-principle endorsement of mandatory ADR  last year
• the Ministry of Justice’s subsequent Call for Evidence on that and other ADR issues
• the government’s proposed signing of the Singapore Convention
• the pandemic-led advent of remote mediation
• recent Civil Justice Council proposals for changes to the ADR requirements within the pre-action protocols.

Jan O’Neill in our London Disputes team has published a post on the Practical Law Dispute Resolution Blog examining the various factors at play. Read the post here.