While there are no detailed proposals or a timeline yet, the Ministry of Justice consultation ‘Increasing the use of mediation in the civil justice system’ proposes to make mediation compulsory for small, civil legal claims before the claim can go to court. This would apply to most defended claims for less than £10,000 (although there is a lower threshold for personal injury and housing disrepair claims).
The free mediation will be via an appointment with His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service.
Businesses for which court proceedings are important – for example, as a means of prompting payment of debts – should start to think about the possible impact on their operations and costs if the proposals become concrete.
The government also consulted on making mediation compulsory for larger claims later – although it acknowledged that this would require use of external mediators, with implications for the size and structure of the mediation profession, so that sufficient skilled mediators were available.
Operative date
- Now
Recommendation
- Check out the consultation on the GOV.UK website.
This article from Atom Content Marketing is for general guidance only, for businesses in the United Kingdom governed by the laws of England. Atom Content Marketing, expert contributors and ICAEW (as distributor) disclaim all liability for any errors or omissions.
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Legal Alert is a monthly checklist from Atom Content Marketing highlighting new and pending laws, regulations, codes of practice and rulings that could have an impact on your business.