The Irish Mediation Act 2017 was intended to cement the place of mediation in the civil justice system. A key part of the Act is the regulation of mediation. The Act contains a series of regulatory measures affecting how mediation is practised and organized as a profession. This article shows how the Act has achieved one of these regulatory goals (the regulation of the practice of mediation), while failing to achieve the second (the organization of mediation as a profession). Drawing a comparison with other jurisdictions, the article shows how the failure to fully implement some of the provisions of the Mediation Act 2017 has stymied the development of mediation in Ireland.

The Mediation Act 2017 places mediation at the heart of the civil justice system in Ireland and protects some of the key principles of mediation. This article discusses neutrality, one of these principles. The article shows how neutrality is discussed by two sets of mediation stakeholders (clients and mediators). Using two data sets, the article demonstrates that both groups recognize the influence of neutrality on the mediation process. At the same time, the article shows that the manner in which both groups discuss neutrality is different.

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