According to the MoJ, more than 180,000 parties will be referred automatically to a free hour-long telephone session with a professional mediator provided by HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) before their case can be progressed to a hearing. To prepare, HMCTS is recruiting and training additional mediators to bulk up the Small Claims Mediation Service.
The reforms will be rolled out to specified money claims first, for example a homeowner suing a builder, which make up about 80% of small claims. Personal injury and unspecified money claims will be excluded from the first rollout, but the MoJ plans to expand integrated mediation to all small claims at a later date.
The reform, announced this week, goes further than the Civil Justice Council’s recommendation, in January 2021, for mandatory mediation for cases worth up to £500.
The MoJ estimates up to 5,000 sitting days per year could be freed up through greater use of mediation, affecting up to 92,000 cases per year.
Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution chief executive James South said automatic referral of civil disputes would ‘provide more disputants with access to the benefits that we know mediation can bring them.’
Law Society president Lubna Shuja said: ‘It is reassuring to see the government move towards an integrated approach to the mediation process, rather than impose a rigid mandatory requirement on the parties to find a resolution, as it is doing in other areas of justice.
‘However, there may be certain types of small claims where mediation is not suitable. We are concerned that by not allowing exemptions to this new process, the government may be increasing unnecessary bureaucracy and cost, ultimately hindering the ability of some parties to access justice. This must be closely monitored.’
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