Top judge is mediation fan

Supreme Court President, Lord Neuberger, said there is “a lot to be said” for extending the compulsory mediation information and assessment meetings, introduced for separating couples, to smaller civil cases. Speaking at the 2015 Civil Mediation Council’s conference he said an alternative route might be to put compulsory mediation clauses into contracts. Praising mediation as a faster, cheaper alternative to litigation, he said: “The right of access to courts is fundamental and, like all rights, it has to be genuinely available to all. And so mediation must not be invoked and promoted as if it was always an improved substitute for litigation.”