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Commenting on her award, Emma said: 'I am absolutely thrilled to have been chosen as the winner of the Bar Council’s Law Reform Essay Competition 2022. I am truly honoured to be the recipient of such a prestigious and generous award.
'I chose to write about compulsory mediation having trained as a mediator this summer. I found the topic fascinating due to its potential to increase the efficiency of the court system and enhance access to justice.'
This year’s competition is generously sponsored by City Law School, University of London.
‘Crossing the Constitutional Rubicon: why mediation should be compulsory in all civil disputes’
By Emma Meadows
Mediation is a form of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) which does not have a statutory definition. It ‘involves the use of a neutral third party who seeks to facilitate what is essentially a negotiation process to resolve a dispute’. While ‘mediation has enjoyed a global blossoming’ as part of the growth industry of conflict resolution, it ‘has not been accepted by the legal system in the way most would have hoped’. There have been calls for compulsory mediation to be considered in the UK to deal with court backlogs, especially following COVID-19-related delays. In July 2022, the Government released a consultation paper regarding the implementation of compulsory mediation in the small claims court. Steps have therefore already been taken to implement a compulsory mediation system. This essay will argue that these proposals should be extended, and that mediation should be compulsory in all civil disputes…
The full essay is reproduced below.
Emma Meadows LLB Law, LLM Governance and Devolution, PGDip Bar Practice is winner of the Bar Council’s Law Reform Essay Competition 2022. Emma is currently a paralegal in the homelessness team at Lawstop, having previously volunteered for Advocate and worked at XBundle.
Commenting on her award, Emma said: 'I am absolutely thrilled to have been chosen as the winner of the Bar Council’s Law Reform Essay Competition 2022. I am truly honoured to be the recipient of such a prestigious and generous award.
'I chose to write about compulsory mediation having trained as a mediator this summer. I found the topic fascinating due to its potential to increase the efficiency of the court system and enhance access to justice.'
This year’s competition is generously sponsored by City Law School, University of London.
‘Crossing the Constitutional Rubicon: why mediation should be compulsory in all civil disputes’
By Emma Meadows
Mediation is a form of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) which does not have a statutory definition. It ‘involves the use of a neutral third party who seeks to facilitate what is essentially a negotiation process to resolve a dispute’. While ‘mediation has enjoyed a global blossoming’ as part of the growth industry of conflict resolution, it ‘has not been accepted by the legal system in the way most would have hoped’. There have been calls for compulsory mediation to be considered in the UK to deal with court backlogs, especially following COVID-19-related delays. In July 2022, the Government released a consultation paper regarding the implementation of compulsory mediation in the small claims court. Steps have therefore already been taken to implement a compulsory mediation system. This essay will argue that these proposals should be extended, and that mediation should be compulsory in all civil disputes…
The full essay is reproduced below.
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Six months of court observation at the Old Bailey: APPEAL’s Dr Nisha Waller and Tehreem Sultan report their findings on prosecution practices under joint enterprise
The Amazonian artist’s first international solo exhibition is wholly relevant to current issues in social and environmental justice, says Stephen Cragg KC
Despite its prevalence, autism spectrum disorder remains poorly understood in the criminal justice system. Does Alex Henry’s joint enterprise conviction expose the need to audit prisons? asks Dr Felicity Gerry KC
Until reforms are instituted and a programme of training is introduced, expert opinion on intimate partner abuse remains vital to realigning the tilted scales of law and justice, writes Professor Susan Edwards
It’s been five years since the groundbreaking QC competition in which six Black women barristers, including the 2025 Chair of the Bar, took silk. Yet today, the number of Black KCs remains ‘critically low’. Desirée Artesi talks to Baroness Scotland KC, Allison Munroe KC and Melanie Simpson KC about the critical success factors, barriers and ideas for embedding change
