Chambers Ireland Welcomes Publication of Mediation Bill 2017

Chambers Ireland today (13^th February 2017) welcomed the long-awaited publication of the Mediation Bill 2017 by the Department of Justice and Equality.

Speaking following the publication of the legislation, Chambers Ireland Chief Executive Ian Talbot said, “Chambers Ireland has long been an advocate for increased use of these mechanisms, particularly mediation, to resolve commercial disputes. Going to court can be an adversarial and polarising experience, whereas the benefit of mediation is that it can often preserve business relationships, improving efficiency and competitiveness.”

“The absence of a statutory basis for mediation in Ireland has meant that it can sometimes be difficult to persuade parties that mediation is the best first option in dispute resolution. Therefore, today’s publication of the Mediation Bill 2017 is a welcome step towards encouraging more businesses to consider using mediation to resolve commercial disputes.”

In 2016, the World Bank “Doing Business” report again identified Ireland as an expensive location in which to enforce a contract. Faced with the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, Government must take every opportunity to protect and improve the competitiveness of our economy. Making commercial dispute resolution more cost-effective for business is a simple way of doing this, simultaneously reducing any backlogs of cases in the courts and subsequently improving our international reputation as a location for investment.”

Additional Notes

• The Mediation Bill 2017 was published by the Department of Justice and Equality on the 13^th February 2017 and is available at http://www.oireachtas.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=34522&&CatID=59
• Chambers Ireland, in partnership with the Law Society, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Mediator’s Institute of Ireland and the Bar Council, launched a Business and Commercial Mediation service with the objective of promoting the use of mediation as a cost and resource efficient way for businesses to resolve commercial disputes. The scheme is also supported by the Courts Service of Ireland. It is our goal that through this service, businesses will more frequently think to use ADR mechanisms to resolve disputes rather than the more traditional route of litigation.

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