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06 August 2021 / David Burrows
Issue: 7944 / Categories: Opinion , ADR , Mediation , Family
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Compulsory ADR: a mirage...?

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David Burrows laments the opportunities missed in the Civil Justice Council’s recent report on compulsory ADR

The June 2021 report of the Civil Justice Council (CJC) on Compulsory ADR, chaired by Lady Justice Asplin, was requested by the Council. It has the feel of a document that was prepared by a group—four members: two judges, including Asplin LJ, an academic and a QC (ie no one on the frontline engaged daily with clients)—who wanted to find reasons why alternative dispute resolution (ADR) should be compulsory. There is little sense of any real debate. There is no family lawyer, despite this being where most of the practical mediation and in-court dispute resolution has been going on for the last 45 years or so.

The report looks at case law comment on compulsion to mediation, when comment eventually came (Halsey v Milton Keynes General NHS Trust; Steel v Joy [2004] EWCA Civ 576, [2004] 4 All ER 920). The earlier family law jurisprudence is largely ignored (see eg Sir Thomas Bingham

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