At a recent conference on the use of alternate dispute resolution (ADR) in Nigeria, a possible reason was seen as to why those who go into mediation and the like might be attracted to the area. Not only did the conference start extraordinarily late, owing to the relaxed attitude of some delegates, but no one seemed to want to break with decorum to chivvy things along. Everyone was, in fact, quite stunningly reasonable. In one of the breaks, Obiter asked whether this might indicate a deep truth - are those involved in ADR just intrinsically reasonable people? Perhaps, said some, and perhaps not. Essentially, everyone who was asked that question said, really, it was a matter of how you looked at it, and it would be unfair to come down too hard on one side of that question or the other... Obiter left before the ability to decide on anything disappeared for good.


The air of extreme politeness was blissfully spoiled, however, when a mediator and lawyer from the low countries described the current state of European mediation as being like sex between 12-year-olds: 'They're all talking about it, but there's not a lot of action.' It was possible, for a moment, to hear a pin drop in France.