Increasing the use of mediation in the civil justice system
The Ministry of Justice is seeking views from all interested parties on the Government’s proposals to increase the use of mediation in the civil justice system.
This consultation sets out the Government’s proposal to automatically refer people involved in a civil dispute valued up to £10,000 for a free mediation session provided by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) as part of the court process. It also seeks stakeholders’ views on how the Government can support and strengthen the external civil mediation sector.
At present, the proposals would cover all types of cases allocated to the small claims track, including personal injury and housing disrepair claims (where the threshold is lower than £10,000). The Government is consulting on whether certain case types should be exempt from the requirement to mediate.
The Government welcomes responses from court users, the mediation profession, the legal profession, the judiciary, the advice sector, and all those with an interest in the resolution of civil disputes.
A HTML version of the consultation is available and a British Sign Language version is published below.