Increasing the use of mediation in the civil justice system - Which? response

Which? welcomes the opportunity to participate in the consultation on increasing the use of mediation in the civil justice system and sets out below our response to both the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) proposals concerning (1) the introduction of automatic referral to mediation for small claims, and (2) strengthening the civil mediation sector. 

Whilst we welcome the MoJ proposals to make mediation mandatory in the civil justice system for disputes less than £10,000, and support strengthening the mediation sector, we feel that certain areas of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) are currently failing consumers and will continue to do so regardless of the MoJ proposals. Which? advises that the government should take action to make alternative dispute resolution mandatory for certain sectors before a dispute reaches the civil justice system. We have set out our views on how this should be done in our response to Q11 and we feel these recommendations are consistent with, and would ultimately complement and reinforce the MoJs proposals. If ADR schemes were efficient and widespread in key unregulated sectors for example, home improvement and motoring, and more effective in some regulated sectors, such as aviation, the small claims court system would become a residual arena.