Scottish Mediation Network

Margaret Lynch steps down as Director of SMN

admin — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:01:49 +0000

Margaret Lynch, Director of the Scottish Mediation Network, is stepping down from her role to take up her new post as Chief Executive of Citizens Advice Scotland:“I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at SMN, met loads of very memorable people, learned a huge amount, trained as a mediator which was a great experience, and had the chance to work with a really great team on the Board and in the staff group. I am leaving SMN but taking the mediation world with me, and I am sure that in my new role at CAS there will be opportunities to hardwire mediation into the way in which Citizens Advice Bureau and other advice agencies assist their client groups.”

Charlie Irvine, Chair of SMN said:

“In the past two years the Scottish Mediation Network has benefited from Margaret’s energy, vision and determination, as she brought her political savvy and ‘can-do’ attitude to the world of mediation. We have seen several new projects undertaken: the Scottish Mediation Helpline, the North Lanarkshire Small Claims Mediation Pilot, mediation in NHS complaints and the substantial review and expansion of the Scottish Mediation Register. We are also working more closely than ever with the Scottish Government on its ‘Making Justice Work’ programme. The Board is grateful to Margaret for all her work and we wish her well in her new post. We will be seeking to recruit her successor immediately, knowing that the organisation is in good shape to take forward our vision of a Scotland that deals positively with conflict.”

Annual review 2010/11

admin — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:49:00 +0000

Click here to read our annual review

The Scotsman Newspapers ‘Beneath the Tweets’ looks at our upcoming ‘Embedding ADR in the Justice System’ Conference

admin — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 11:23:29 +0000

To Read the article click here.

Details and sign up info for our prestigious upcoming event in partnership with The Law Society Scotland can be found here

If you are already a Law Society member follow this link for the sign up page

Annual Review 2010/11

admin — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:35:21 +0000

Click here to read our annual review

Issues with new England and Wales divorce guidelines?

admin — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:34:46 +0000

The biggest shake-up of divorce in a generation is in danger of creating a two-tier system, with wealthier couples benefitting far more than less well-off couples. The warning comes as a survey of more than 6,500 divorce lawyers found that new guidelines, requiring couples to look at mediation as an alternative to using courts, were largely being ignored. To read the full article click here

Mediation in the Complaints Handling Process Event – 12 June 2012

admin — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 14:58:27 +0000

This event will be led by Carolyn Hirst and looks at the possibilities and opportunities of including mediation in public, private and professional complaints handling processes.

For full details of this event click here

Update on Scottish Parliament EU Priorities for 2012 – ADR

admin — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 10:04:28 +0000

Extract taken from 1st Report, 2012 (Session 4): The Scottish Parliament’s EU priorities for 2012

CIVIL JUSTICE INITIATIVES

Alternative Dispute Resolution instrument for Business to Business disputes (expected December 2012)

Summary of proposed initiative

25. An Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) scheme is one that leads to a quick and inexpensive resolution of a dispute by a non-judicial procedure, such as mediation or arbitration.

26. On 17 January 2012, the Justice Committee considered a Proposal for an EU Directive on alternative dispute resolution for consumer disputes, focusing on whether the aforementioned proposal is compliant with the principle of subsidiarity under the Treaty on European Union (art 5(3)). The measure in question does not just apply to ADR for cross-border disputes but requires member states to put in place ADR schemes for intra-member state business to consumer disputes.

27. The initiative proposed in the Commission’s work programme for 2012 will complement the proposed EU Directive on Alternative Dispute Resolution for consumers with a mechanism adapted to business-to-business disputes. Again there is some suggestion in the accompanying documentation to the proposal that its scope may not be restricted to cross-border cases.⁷

28. The earlier ADR proposal discussed in para 27 above was brought under article 114 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union (TFEU). If the same approach is taken to the latest ADR proposal, this would mean there would be no possibility of the UK electing not to opt-in to the proposal.

Relationship with Scottish policy developments

29. There has been recent Scottish legislation on ADR, in the form of the Arbitration (Scotland) Act 2010, which aimed, among other things, to clarify and consolidate Scottish arbitration law. The report of the Gill Review published in September 2009 recognised the value of ADR and makes various proposals on the topic, including a free mediation service for claims under the new simplified civil court procedure (also proposed in the Gill report).

30. As this proposal is not expected until the end of the year, the Committee agreed to return to this issue at its next EU scrutiny session.

Jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement of judgements in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility (expected 2013)

Summary of proposed initiative

31. This legislative proposal would amend an existing legal instrument, namely Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 which sets out rules relating to EU cross border cases on parental responsibility and “matrimonial matters” (e.g. divorce).

32. This latest legislative proposal focuses on how court judgements made in one member state should be recognised and enforced in another member state. It proposes the creation of minimum EU standards for the recognition of such judgements. It also proposes the abolition of the “exequatur procedure”, which is the procedure by which the court judgements of one member state are currently given effect to in another member state, i.e. via a court decision to do so in the latter member state. The effect of the proposed abolition is that court judgements of one member state would be given effect to automatically in another member state, subject to certain safeguards.

Relationship with Scottish policy developments

33. The SNP Manifesto from May 2011 (p 22) contained a commitment to review the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 (which contains the current domestic law on parental responsibilities and rights in Scotland) and it is understood the preliminary work in relation to this is in its very early stages. However, it is too early to say what the scope of this review will be.

34. The focus of this latest EU initiative is on cross-border cases only and would make no change to domestic family law in Scotland. On the other hand, abolition of the exequatur procedure is only thought advisable in policy terms if the judgements of other member states have been made subject to equivalent procedural safeguards as those which exist in domestic courts.

35. As this proposal is not expected until the end of the year, the Committee agreed to return to this issue at its next EU scrutiny session.

Annual Review 2010/11

admin — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 10:22:18 +0000

Click here to read our annual review

Event News – Embedding ADR in the Justice System

admin — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 10:21:29 +0000

Details and sign up info for our prestigious upcoming event in partnership with The Law Society Scotland can be found here

If you are already a Law Society member follow this link for the sign up page

New Spanish Mediation Law

admin — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 10:31:21 +0000

The Spanish Government has approved the Real Decreto – ley, (or Royal-Decree mediation law) dated March 5, 2012 on mediation in civil and commercial matters, as an effort to implement the EU Mediation Directive

To read the full article please click here