Civil Justice Council consultation on pre-action…
The Civil Justice Council is reviewing how to make pre-action protocols more effective and streamlined. We responded to its consultation in December 2021.
Under government proposals, mediation will be compulsory in most civil small claims (up to £10,000). Send us your views on whether there should be any exemptions by Friday 9 September.
All defended small claims would be automatically stayed for 28 days and referred to the Small Claims Mediation Service for a free appointment with a court-trained mediator.
Under current proposals, parties would be required to take part, even if they do not wish to.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is seeking views on whether there should be:
We're considering the proposals and how we'll respond.
While mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) should be used wherever appropriate, we do not support the compulsory use of mediation where it may be:
See our past response on mandatory mediation
The MoJ hopes its proposals will result in up to 20,000 extra cases a year settling away from court and free up to 7,000 judicial sitting days for more complex cases.
Email your feedback to CivilJusticePolicy@lawsociety.org.uk by Friday 9 September, and we'll consider your views in our consultation response.
Alternatively, you can respond directly to the MoJ by 11.59pm on Tuesday 4 October.
The consultation closes on 4 October 2022.