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In a recent report, a Civil Justice Council (CJC) working group has recommended substantial changes to the regime of pre-action protocols (PAPs) which parties are expected to follow before civil proceedings are commenced in the English courts. The thrust of the proposals is to give PAPs more “teeth” by: making their requirements mandatory and formalising … Read more
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
A new procedure has been introduced in the Employment Tribunals of England and Wales allowing judges in complex claims to require the parties to participate in an ADR process. The process is akin to judicial Early Neutral Evaluation (ENE), in which a judge not involved in the case gives the parties a non-binding opinion as … Read more
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
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
A second edition of our text on class actions in England and Wales, co-authored by Herbert Smith Freehills lawyers, has been published in the UK by Sweet & Maxwell. The work takes the reader through the life cycle of a class action claim and includes a chapter devoted to the settlement of class actions. Focusing … 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
