It has been a long time coming but Judges can now compel those involved in a commercial dispute to try to resolve the dispute outside of the court process, usually by way of mediation. Here Elizabeth Wilkinson looks at the courts’ new power to order compulsory mediation.
In November 2023, the Court of Appeal decided that the courts should have the power to order non-court-based dispute resolution in a case called Churchill v Merthyr Tydfil providing it was in line with setting the dispute fairly, quickly and at reasonable cost. Prior to this, Judges could encourage parties very strongly to consider this and penalise them with adverse costs orders if they unreasonably refused to engage in it but they could not order parties to do so.
Well, now they can. Squeezing in just before the first anniversary of the Court of Appeal decision, the court rules have been updated to reflect this change giving Judges the power to order parties to try to resolve the dispute outside of the court process.
Given the costs of a one-day mediation for example can be dwarfed by the costs of going to trial, this change will be welcomed by many. As well as being significantly cheaper, mediation is less combative, private and can allow the parties to maintain and even improve their working relationship which rarely happens once the parties have ‘faced off’ at court.
Beyond Corporate’s Dispute Resolution Team are enthusiastic supporters of non-court-based dispute resolution and are well versed in securing settlements for their clients via this approach. One of the team’s partners, Alison Rocca, is a qualified mediator.
Get in touch with our Dispute Resolution Team today!
