“in Order to Minimise Delays in Our Civil Justice System, Mediation Should Be Made Compulsory for All Civil Matters Before the Disputes Get to Court.”

“in Order to Minimise Delays in Our Civil Justice System, Mediation Should Be Made Compulsory for All Civil Matters Before the Disputes Get to Court.”

Mediation, a form of Alternative Dispute Resolution, should be made compulsory for all civil disputes to allow for a cheaper and more effective civil justice system. Alternative Dispute Resolution consists of an array of procedures to settle civil disputes outside of the courtroom. Mediation, a specific process of ADR, is known as one of the most common methods that people undertake to solve their disputes. In fact, over the past few decades there has been an increase in Alternative Dispute Resolution methods and a decrease in cases going through the paradigm adversarial trial process. (Underwood, P. 2007) According to the Courts Legislation (Mediation and Evaluation) Amendment 1994, “Mediation is a structured process in which the mediator, as a neutral and independent party, assists the parties to a dispute to achieve their own resolution of the dispute.” The society will benefit from imposed mediation. It will provide fairness amongst those who cannot afford to go to court.

"Court systems are eager to introduce mandatory Mediation as a means to meet their needs to reduce case loads and adversarial litigation, and participants who understand the empowerment of Mediation to self-determine their own agreements are equally as eager to embrace Mediation as an alternative to costly and potentially harmful litigation." (Spencer, D. & Altobelli, T. 2005)

Mediation involves a qualified mediator who acts as a neutral third party within the dispute situation. The mediator then assists both parties in reaching a decision; however, it is not legally binding. The process of Mediation usually takes a couple of days depending on the situation or how many people are involved etc. At the start of the procedure, the mediator introduces the goals and parties of the Mediation. After this is completed, both of the parties then give their statements and the mediator summarises. The mediator’s objective is to achieve a win-win solution with the parties. Mediation provides many...

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