The National Mediation Helpline (NMH) is operated for the Ministry of Justice with the Civil Mediation Council. I am one of a number of mediators who offer their services through the helpline. The purpose of the National Mediation Helpline is to ensure that mediation services are available to the public throughout the country. Most people prefer to select their own mediator and instruct them directly. However if you do not know any mediators or if your nominated mediators have been rejected by your opponent then the Helpline can assist.
Parties in litigation can use the Allocation Questionnaire to ask the court to arrange a mediation through the NMH. Alternatively the parties can contact the NMH directly themselves. The NMH has a number of mediation providers, approved by the Civil Mediation Council. It will select the next provider on it’s list and the provider will then select a mediator from its panel. The drawback for users is that they are not able to select their own mediator if they use the NMH and may feel the mediator selected is not suitable for their dispute.
I have recently been working with the National Mediation Helpline providers’ forum to promote the NMH. I have addressed a seminar of judges in the North West and also met with court managers. The court’s case management duty requires judges to ensure that parties are properly considering the use of mediation and will be willing to assist by referring matters to the NMH if the parties have not selected their own mediator.
Have you had experience with the NMH? Do you prefer to instruct your mediator directly? Add a comment below.
Related posts:
