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

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

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

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has launched a public consultation on Increasing the use of mediation in the civil justice system. It has also given an indication that the government intends for the UK to sign and ratify the Singapore Convention on Mediated Settlements. The consultation issues The consultation document seeks views on two distinct … Read more

The UK government recently published a report announcing a wide range of far-reaching changes to the UK competition and consumer protection regulatory regimes, following a consultation last year. The key reforms are examined on our Competition Notes blog, here.  Below, we highlight a less prominent aspect of the report, regarding the role of ADR services … Read more

Over the past year, both the civil judiciary and the Ministry of Justice have made clear their shared policy aim of bringing about a paradigm shift in the civil justice system, to one in which ADR is embedded into court procedure and culture at all stages of the process (see, for example, here and here).  … Read more

The Ministry of Justice has published a Report summarising the responses it received to a Call for Evidence it issued in August last year. Although entitled a Call for Evidence on Dispute Resolution in England and Wales, the document was in fact focused on methods of resolving disputes apart from litigation –  including mediation, conciliation, … Read more

As we previously reported, the UK government is currently consulting on whether the UK should sign the UN Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation, more commonly known as the Singapore Convention. The consultation closes on 1 April 2022. The Convention establishes a framework under which Member States agree to recognise and enforce settlements of … Read more