Brexit: UK unwinds implementation of EU ADR laws

19 March, 2019
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

UK: Civil Justice Council report on ADR calls for review of Halsey guidelines but stops short of recommending mandatory mediation

07 December, 2018
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

Updated Jackson ADR Handbook published

20 September, 2016
A new (second) edition of the Jackson ADR Handbook was published on 8 September 2016. The original edition of the Handbook (see our bulletin here) was published in 2013 as one of the suite of measures recommended by Lord Justice Jackson in his 2010 Review of Civil Litigation Costs.  That Review endorsed a "serious campaign" to ensure that lawyers, … Read more

UK: Civil Courts Structure Review recommends expanded role for ADR

11 August, 2016
The recently published final report of Lord Justice Briggs in his Civil Courts Structure Review includes some interesting conclusions as to the role currently played by ADR in the civil justice system in England and Wales and a number of recommendations aimed at expanding that role. Key recommendations are for: the proposed new Online Court to include an expanded range of … Read more

UK: Interim report published in Civil Courts Structure Review

13 January, 2016
An important judicial report has been published examining the need for changes to the court structure and processes for civil justice in England and Wales. The Civil Courts Structure Review by Lord Justice Briggs was commissioned by the senior judiciary to coincide with the UK government's ongoing wider programme for reform of the justice system more generally.  Briggs … Read more

The EU Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) Platform – an update on timing

06 January, 2016
It has been confirmed that online businesses will have an extended timeframe in which to comply with new obligations to signpost customers to the Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) Platform being set up by the EU Commission. As we have previously reported, the EU ODR Regulation which came into force last year (and was implemented in the UK as … Read more

ADR for consumer disputes: New obligations on UK traders from 1 October 2015

02 July, 2015
The UK government has now published the principal legislation that will implement the European ADR Directive and the European Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) Regulation, both of which seek to encourage the use of ADR to resolve consumer disputes across the EU.  (See our previous posts for details of the EU legislation and the UK’s implementation plans). Alongside provisions … Read more

EU: ADR Directive and ODR Regulation to enter into force

20 June, 2013
We have previously reported on EU legislative proposals for a directive on ADR in consumer disputes and a supporting regulation on online dispute resolution (ODR). On 18 June 2013, the  ADR Directive  (Directive 2013/11/EU) and the ODR Regulation (Regulation (EU) 524/2013) were published in the Official Journal of the European Union.  Both will enter into force on 8 July 2013. The … Read more