Across the English-speaking world there has been a marked rise in the number of jurisdictions taking active steps to encourage greater use of mediation. Drivers for this include the desire to promote the early resolution of disputes, the need to reduce court backlogs and the success of the process itself. In Scotland mediation now plays a key role in Simple Procedure (claims up to £5,000); sheriff courts referred some 600 cases last year, representing around 15% of defended matters.
This special symposium is hosted by University of Strathclyde Mediation Clinic and Scottish Mediation, with support from Scottish Government. Its aim is to promote informed conversation among judges, policymakers, the legal profession and consumers about expanding mediation’s contribution to Scotland’s civil justice system. The principal focus will be on sheriff court matters, particularly Ordinary Cause, in the light of the growing success of mediation in Simple Procedure, with the hope that we might also look towards Court of Session actions.
The format of the event will be table discussions informed by brief talks from a range of jurisdictions where mediation is more thoroughly embedded, as well as from Scotland itself. The day will be facilitated by Dr Vanessa Collingridge.
Speakers:
Ireland: The Hon Ms Justice Marguerite Bolger, Judge of the High Court
To view Marguerite’s video contribution please click HERE
– Judge of the Irish High Court, currently sitting in the Chancery list.
– Director of Judicial Education, Judicial Council of Ireland.
– Member of the Board of the Judicial Council of Ireland, the Judicial Planning Implementation Steering Group, the Judicial Irish language working group and the European Whistleblowing Institute.
– Chairperson of the Editorial Board of the Irish Employment Review.
– Chairperson of GEMME Ireland 2022-2025.
– Previously a Senior Counsel and accredited mediator, practising in employment law and equality law.
– Author of several legal textbooks and articles.
Scotland: Sheriff Mark McGuire, Sheriffdom of Glasgow and Strathkelvin, Judiciary of Scotland
New Zealand and Australia: Mark Kelly, Barrister
To view Mark’s video contribution please click HERE
Mark is a New Zealand barrister, specialising full time as a commercial mediator. He has over 30 years of experience in dispute resolution.
He is a two-time winner of the Mediator of the Year Award at the New Zealand Law Awards. He was recognised as one of the most influential lawyers in New Zealand by NZ Lawyer Magazine in 2023 and 2024.
Mark is a Fellow of the Arbitrators’ and Mediators’ Institute of New Zealand/Te Mana Kaiwhakatau, Takawaenga o Aotearoa. He was AMINZ President from 2020-2022, and an AMINZ Councillor from 2015-2022. He is also a Distinguished Fellow of the International Academy of Mediators.
He has extensive experience successfully mediating disputes involving: general commercial issues, construction, insurance, intellectual property, trusts and estates, rural and farm debt, earthquake, weathertightness, international issues, and sports issues.
Mark has written, taught, and coached, on mediation, locally and internationally. See https://markkelly.co.nz/
England & Wales: Dr Anna Howard, University College London, Academic and Author
To view Anna’s slides please click HERE
Dr Anna Howard is a lawyer, mediator and researcher with over 20 years’ experience in legal practice, teaching and research. Anna’s research focuses on mediation and she has spoken about her book, EU Cross-Border Commercial Mediation: Listening to Disputants (Wolters Kluwer 2021) at leading universities and institutions, including Oxford University, Strathclyde University, the UNCITRAL Academy and the International Mediation Institute.
Anna is a Lecturer at UCL Faculty of Laws where she teaches on the LLB and LLM alternative dispute resolution programmes. Alongside her teaching and research, Anna also practises mediation. From 2022 to 2025, Anna served as an assistant to Lord Neuberger and Bill Marsh in the mediations of hundreds of claims for injury arising from the Grenfell Tower fire.
Before moving into academia and mediation, Anna practised competition law at a couple of international law firms.
Dr Charlie Irvine, Director of the Mediation Clinic
To read Charlie’s contribution to the Symposium please click HERE
To listen to Charlie’s talk click HERE
Charlie briefly practised as a solicitor before training as a family mediator and going on to manage Scotland’s largest family mediation service. After gaining his MSc in Conflict Resolution and Mediation Studies from Birkbeck University of London, Charlie founded University of Strathclyde master’s programme in Mediation and Conflict Resolution in 2010. The Mediation Clinic was launched in 2011, offering students the opportunity to mediate real-world disputes while providing a service to the local community. Since then the Clinic has expanded its scope and is now funded by Scottish Government to provide a free mediation service across most of Scotland’s courts.
Charlie writes widely on mediation and in 2024 was awarded his PhD for a study entitled “Can Mediation Deliver Justice? The Perspective of Unrepresented People.” His own mediation practice includes workplace, commercial and succession disputes as well as complaints against legal practitioners.
John Sturrock KC, Director of Core Solutions, will speak on mediation developments in Scotland
To read John’s contribution to the Symposium please click HERE
To hear John’s Symposium talk click HERE
Following a career at the Scottish Bar, John Sturrock KC moved into mediation in the early 2000s and is the founder and senior mediator at Core Solutions (www.core-solutions.com). He has been identified as a Global Elite Thought Leader by Who’s Who Legal and is a Distinguished Fellow of the international Academy of Mediators.
In addition to his work as a mediator, John has worked extensively as a coach, consultant and facilitator with parliaments throughout the UK, the Scottish Government, public bodies, business and sport. He was a member of the Stewarding Group of the first Citizens Assembly in Scotland and in 2019, he conducted a well-received review for the Scottish Government into allegations of bullying in NHS Highland. He maintains an active involvement in matters to do with health and social care in Scotland.
John co-chaired an Expert Group which produced a report in 2019 entitled “Bringing Mediation into the Mainstream”. He has published two volumes of his book, A Mediator’s Musings.
Papers and Information
Bringing Mediation into the Mainstream in Scottish Civil Justice
An update on progress in implementing Brining Mediation into the Mainstream.
Learning From Europe’s Mediation Paradox: Why U.S. Mandates Are Leading Where the EU Stumbled By Giuseppe De Palo and Agnė Tvaronavičienė
Mediation Matters Issue 14 January 2026
Mediation Is Law’s Highest Evolution, Not Its Weakness: CJI Surya Kant
University of Strathclyde Mediation Clinic Report April – December 2025