ADR working group calls for launch of mediation council

An independent civil mediation council is set to be formed on the recommendation of the ADR Providers Working Group, which was formed earlier this year to further the cause of mediation in the UK.

The working group - chaired by former Court of Appeal judge Sir Brian Neil and consisting of members from mediation groups including the ADR Group and the Centre for Effective Dispute resolution - has met several times over the year before publishing a report this week.

The report recommends that a civil mediation council should be established to act as a neutral, advisory and non-membership body whose objectives are legal reform, education and to act as a focal point for information about mediation.

The council will be established at the next meeting of the working group next month.

It will act under the control of a board of 15 members, chaired by a judge, managed by a working committee and possibly supported by a secretariat.

Jeremy Fleming