On 31 March 2010 the UK Government, the Scottish Executive, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Northern Ireland Executive agreed a Memorandum of Understanding setting out the principles that underlie relations between them. This includes a protocol setting out the process which should be followed by each administration in the event of dispute. Ministers from the four administrations agreed that the dispute resolution process “should be fair, accessible, informed and responsive.” They also committed to further work to improve the process. The Protocol states that efforts should be made to resolve differences at official and then ministerial level before invoking formally the Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) process.

Further to a pilot in 2009, a practice direction came into force in April 2010 that empowers civil courts hearing family law disputes to attempt to resolve appropriate cases through mediation. At the first hearing the court will conduct a conciliation process, sometimes involving a mediator. Where agreement is not reached, the court should adjourn proceedings for the parties to attempt mediation.

At the fourth national conference of the Civil Mediation Council on 11 May 2010, Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, Master of the Rolls, endorsed the views expressed by Lord Justice Jackson in his final report on civil litigation costs where he called for “a serious campaign (a) to ensure that all litigation lawyers and judges are properly informed about the benefits which ADR can bring and (b) to alert the public and small businesses to the benefits of ADR.” Lord Neuberger also supported Lord Justice Jackson’s recommendation that there be an “authoritative handbook, explaining clearly and concisely what ADR is and giving details of all reputable providers of mediation.” Lord Neuberger went on to announce the publication of a Mediation Handbook (as a companion to the White and Green Books) under the General Editorship of Lord Clarke with significant input from the Civil Justice Council.

Click here to read Lord Neuberger’s speech.

The employee and employer relationship can often be strained and it is only human nature that there will be differences of opinion. In 2008/2009 a total of 151,000 claims were accepted by employment tribunals, with thousands of pounds paid out in compensation and legal fees. Behind this statistic lies an even greater cost in disruption to the smooth running of businesses and lost opportunities caused by conflict between staff.