The Justice Minister Bridget Prentice published the Government’s response to the Law Commission’s report Housing : Proportionate Dispute Resolution. The headline quote is
The government is committed to promoting mediation and using alternative dispute resolution as a tool to ensure court action is a last resort.
Unfortunately the response is entirely silent on how it intends to promote mediation. We shall have to await further announcements. The Law Commission published it’s report in April 2008. The report was unusual in that it didn’t focus on reform of substantive law; nor was there a draft bill to accompany it. The terms of reference were specifically extended beyond legal questions, and raised the broader issues of how housing problems arise, how they are related to other problems, and how they might be dealt with better.
The Commission concluded that a number of housing disputes are suited to resolution by mediation. It identified mediation as being appropriate in the following instances:
- Where the parties are involved in an on-going relationship which will continue after the mediation.
- When neighbours are involved.
- Where the problem is really about an inability to communicate.
- Housing disrepair claims.
The Commission concluded :
Nonetheless, we regard mediation as an important part of a proportionate dispute resolution system. We conclude that the use of mediation in housing disputes should be encouraged and further developed, but we do not propose any alteration to the principle that it should be voluntary.
Specifically, we recommend that (1) mediation should be available for all housing disputes in the tribunal, but should be provided only where all parties agree; (2) rules, practice directions and protocols should emphasise the use of alternative dispute resolution, and the court/tribunal should enforce them; and (3) courts/tribunals should actively promote the availability of alternative dispute resolution methods to litigants and legal representatives. In particular, parties should be provided with information about services available in the locality.
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