Critical Reflections on the Proposal for a Mediation Act for Scotland

Abstract

This article critically analyses the recent proposal to introduce a Mediation (Scotland) Bill. The proposed Bill aims to introduce a novel process of court-initiated mediation that will oblige litigating parties to attend a mandatory Mediation Information Session. Adopting a comparative approach with the English and Irish civil justice systems, this article analyses the key elements of the proposed Bill and makes proposals to improve it. * Associate Professor, University of Leicester. I am very grateful to Charlie Irvine (University of Strathclyde) and the MLR reviewers for their insightful comments on an earlier version of this article. The usual disclaimer applies.

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