Irvine backs after-hours mediation in Birmingham

The Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine, will this week launch a mediation scheme in Birmingham's civil justice centre - barely a fortnight after one of his junior ministers told Parliament that a Leeds court mediation pilot scheme is struggling.The scheme - developed by District Judge Sankey - will encourage insolvency, personal injury, trade or housing debt claimants in Birmingham's county and High Court to mediate.Mediation will not be compulsory, but information about the scheme will be issued by the court to both parties in contested cases worth more than 5,000, to encourage them to use the service.Mediations will take place in the court's conference rooms after business hours from 4.30pm to 7.30pm.

These will be private and will cost between 75 and 250, depending on the size of the claim.Rosie Winterton, minister in the Lord Chancellor's Department, recently told Parliament that only 15 people had signed up to mediation in the Leeds pilot over 14 months.

(see [2001] Gazette, 29 November, 4).Anthony Glaister, a partner with Keeble Hawson in Leeds and chairman of the Association of Northern Mediators, said the Birmingham scheme needed to maintain a high profile to flourish.District Judge Sankey said: 'Everyone wants to avoid a dispute...

far better to cut short expensive court cases, which will not only cost you money in legal fees, but also take up your valuable time.'Jeremy Fleming