The Ministry of Justice has launched a major nationwide consultation on the future of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in England and Wales, and in particular how methods such as mediation can “help more people resolve their issues without the stress and cost of a court case”.
In the call for evidence, the MOJ asks for views on the benefits of Mediation Information & Assessment Meetings (MIAMs), which are now a mandatory precursor to family law cases including divorce and can help couples to find different ways to proceed.
This new call for evidence continues the MoJ’s focus on reducing stress in family law processes such as divorce, after a 2018 consultation on issues like no-blame divorce and a shift from the ‘five facts’ under which divorce proceedings may be initiated, to an individual or joint notification process.
The consultation has been launched to coincide with the 25th anniversary of Lord Woolf’s Access to Justice report, which led to changes introduced under the Civil Procedure Rules 2000 and, in turn, mandatory MIAMs in family cases since 2014.
In the consultation paper, the MoJ states: “A quarter of a century after the Woolf report, litigation is still far from the last resort and too many cases still go through the court process unnecessarily.”
Lord Chancellor Robert Buckland QC MP added: “We want the public, families and businesses to be able to resolve disputes easily and with as little stress as possible – avoiding often lengthy and costly court battles.”
In its announcement of the consultation, the MoJ notes the widespread success of mediation across family law and civil cases, including:
The announcement also noted the benefits of mediation in separations involving children, citing one case in which a father had not been able to see his 9-year-old daughter for three months.
After being persuaded to attempt mediation, the girl’s parents reached an agreement to restore the father’s access, despite previously insisting on going to court.
In May 2021, Conservative MP Jane Stevenson asked for an update on the MoJ’s work to implement the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020.
Responding in June 2021, Chris Philp MP said: “The Act provides for the biggest reform of divorce law in 50 years and will reduce conflict between couples legally ending a marriage or civil partnership.”
He added that the planned introduction date in autumn 2021 had proved impossible due to the amount of work required to implement the Act, but that the reforms are now scheduled to come into effect on April 6th 2022.
This should finally remove the need to apportion blame in order to file for divorce and, according to Mr Philp, will reduce conflict in the divorce process “which is especially damaging for children”.
Contact Marcia Mediation to learn about our range of family, workplace and remote mediation services. If you would like to refer a client for MIAM and/or mediation services, please fill in our mediation referral form.
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