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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.
Update from the Chair of the Bar
By Clement Cowley, Partner at The Penny Group
Modernising communication and collaboration at a leading Chancery set. A Zexi case study
How to build profile without compromising professional duties. By Naumaan Farooq, Co-Founder of Inked PR
Marie Law, Director of Toxicology at AlphaBiolabs, examines the role of cut-off levels, and the wider range of factors that must be considered when interpreting results for family court proceedings
Endometriosis Awareness North, a charity raising awareness of endometriosis and supporting those affected across the North of England, has received a £500 boost from AlphaBiolabs via the company’s Giving Back initiative
A decade of reviews and research has disrupted accepted thinking in the search for causality. Suicides following abuse have overtaken domestic homicides. Is the law keeping up? Professor Susan Edwards KC (Hon) examines recent cases and the obstacles to successful prosecution
The case against judge-only justice – and why efficiency is not enough. By Professor Leslie Thomas KC
Heritage as an anchor and a compass, finding our common humanity and embracing the power of the outsider – Melina Antoniadis’s lessons learnt
Seeing the full picture – Baljit Ubhey OBE outlines the CPS action plan to tackle violence against women and girls, offering insights directly relevant to courtroom practice
Lauren Fullerton examines the how, what and why of setting up a second chambers base
