The Swiss Chambers’ Arbitration Institution has announced the release of revised Swiss Rules of Mediation, which entered into force on 1 July 2019. The revised Rules replace the first harmonised Swiss Rules of Mediation, adopted in 2007. The stated aim of the revisions is to further encourage their use by clarifying, shortening and simplifying their … Read more

A trend toward combining alternative dispute resolution processes (typically mediation and arbitration) is gaining traction internationally and is being particularly driven in Asia by the Belt and Road Initiative. With China at the heart of the Belt and Road, a more consensus-driven approach to dispute resolution, reflecting Asian values and promoting mediation, looks set to … Read more

Jan O’Neill Professional Support Lawyer, London   The UK Government has published legislation to effectively revoke the implementation of the EU Mediation Directive (2008/52/EC) after Brexit. The Cross-Border Mediation (EU Directive) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (the Regulations) were made on 1 March 2019 and will come into effect on exit day, whenever that occurs. Why? The development … Read more

Jan O’Neill Professional Support Lawyer, London   The Civil Justice Council’s ADR working group has released its final report on ADR and Civil Justice, following consultation on its interim report released last year. The broad mandate of the review was “to maintain the search for the right relationship between civil justice and ADR” and to … Read more

Jan O’Neill Professional Support Lawyer, London   The Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) has released the results of its Mediation Audit 2018, based on a survey of practising mediators in the UK. (The results of parallel surveys of lawyer attitudes to mediation, and of US practitioners’ views, are to be published separately). The audit is the eighth biennial survey CEDR has conducted in the last … Read more

We have previously commented on how the sheer complexity and scale of China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative is prompting a welcome review of dispute resolution processes including efforts, led and supported by the Chinese government, to encourage mediation clauses in Belt and Road agreements. In the following article, first published on http://arbitrationblog.kluwerarbitration.com on 16 April 2018, Mingchao Fan … Read more

It has recently been announced that a new “Japan International Mediation Centre” (JIMC) is to open in Kyoto in early 2018. While details on the new centre are still limited, it is known that it is being established in collaboration and with the assistance of the Singapore International Mediation Centre (SIMC), which may provide an indication … Read more

A consultation has been launched  "to consider the concerns that have arisen in Europe as a result of the exponential growth of numerous different forms of alternative dispute resolution".   The paper, entitled "The Relationship between Formal and Informal Justice: the Courts and Alternative Dispute Resolution", is a joint project by the The European Law Institute and the … Read more