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Unfortunately it all started to go wrong in 1999 when it was decided that judges should play a more active part in managing proceedings. Fast forward to 2015, taking in all the additional work judges and solicitors now have to do in order to process a case, and we have a system that litigants can’t afford and the government can’t afford.

If the purpose of a dispute resolution system is to help citizens resolve disputes at manageable cost, we have failed. Mediation is only part of the solution. The vigour with which it is urged upon us is itself an admission that the system is no longer fit for purpose.