IN OR OUT? – THE UK PONDERS THE SINGAPORE CONVENTION ON MEDIATION
A structured, interactive process whereby an impartial third party assists disputing parties in resolving conflict through the use of specialised communication and negotiation techniques, mediation is used in many countries across the globe.
In the UK, mediation is undoubtedly booming. In 2020, the government estimated the sector to be worth £17.5bn, with the process saving businesses up to £4.6bn per annum in management time, relationships, productivity and legal fees.
And all this during the disruption caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the impact of which resulted in a 35 percent drop in mediation activity – a drop that would undoubtedly have been far more severe were it not for the rapid surge in online mediation.
Since then, the sector has rallied. A 2021 Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) audit (which surveyed 360-plus UK-based mediators), revealed that 93 percent of all UK mediation cases settled either on the first day (72 percent) or shortly afterwards (21 percent). Moreover, the average number of hours spent on a typical mediation decreased.
“Mediation is faster than other dispute resolution processes, cheaper and allows for better outcomes,” says Henrietta Jackson-Stops, chair of the UK government liaison working group at the Civil Mediation Council (CMC). “It also allows parties the opportunity to rebuild commercial relationships, instead of destroying them through a drawn-out adversarial process. All the evidence tells us that mediation in the UK is a growing market.”
Jan-Mar 2023 issue
Fraser Tennant