Mediators in the UK handling purely domestic cases look set to escape regulation after the European Parliament rejected key parts of a proposed EU directive, it has emerged.


The directive was originally intended to set standard rules for domestic as well as cross-border mediation. But, after lobbying by parties such as mediation groups and the Law Society, the European Parliament rejected in March the plan to impose EU-wide rules for domestic mediation. It upheld proposals for rules on cross-border mediation.



However, the re-drafted directive is unlikely to be passed in its current form as the Council of Ministers cannot agree on a working definition of 'cross-border', the Gazette understands.



The latest version of the proposals has met with approval among mediators because it would not interfere in domestic mediation.



Tim Wallis, chairman of the alternative dispute resolution committee of the Civil Justice Council, told the Gazette he welcomed the directive because it promotes mediation while not stifling its development. 'Mediation is a flexible concept,' he said. 'The moment it becomes hidebound in regulation is the moment it stops developing.'



European lawyers' group the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe also takes the position that the EU should stay out of domestic mediation. In a statement on the draft directive, it said 'the competence in national mediation cases without any cross-border aspects should remain exclusively with the member states'.



The Council of Ministers met in mid-April to thrash out what to do next, and sources in Brussels said a decision is likely to be taken within a month to send a revised draft back to the parliament. Apart from definitions of 'cross-border' and mediation itself, other contentious provisions include the admissibility of evidence in judicial proceedings and suspension of limitation periods.



When it launched its proposals in 2004, the European Commission said it was convinced that 'mediation holds an untapped potential as a dispute resolution method and as a means of providing access to justice for individuals and business'.



Rupert White