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The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Dermot Ahern, T.D., has introduced new court rules to promote mediation and conciliation in proceedings in the Superior Courts.  The rules were introduced following provisional recommendations from the Law Reform Commission in its Consultation Paper on alternative dispute resolution (ADR).

The rules provide for a mechanism similar to the type used extensively in the Commerical Court whereby a judge can order the parties to engage in ADR. The provisions specify that the refusal or failure without good readon of a party to participate in mediation or conciliation may be taken into account by tghe court when awarding costs.  The aim of this measure is to minimise the cost of the proceedings and to ensure that the time and other resources of the court are employed optimally.

The rules also complement the provision in section 32 of the Arbitration Act 2010 introduced by the Minister earlier this year which facilitates recourse to arbitration in disputes already the subject of litigation.

Announcing the move, the Minister said: "Mediation is increasingly recognised as a cost effective and timely means of resolving disputes. Parties are generally more satisfied with solutions that have been mutually agreed, rather than a solution imposed by a third party. Those who have reached agreement through mediation are also generally more likely to follow through and comply with its terms.

I see real benefits to the parties involved and to the State in promoting the greater use of mediation and other ADR systems within the courts as an alternative to litigation in appropriate circumstances."

The Rules of the Superior Courts (Mediation and Conciliation) 2010 will come into operation on 16 November 2010 justice.ie

EXTRACT FOR ISE – TRINITY COLLEGE
ANNUAL REPORT 2009 2010.

I remember reading once that we should never waste time in lamenting the fact that time seems to run so fast. But for once, may I be permitted to dip into this sentiment when I remind myself that it was ten years ago, in the early months of 2000, that I first approached Provost Mitchell about my plans to set up a Centre for Conflict and Dispute Resolution. Out of those lofty designs and aspirations grew the Post Graduate Diploma in Conflict and Dispute Resolution Studies, (CDRS).

Whereas I did not manage to secure the physical premises which I had envisaged to become a renowned Centre of Excellence in the study and practice of conflict and dispute resolution, due to the substantial support from the Provost and the Graduate Studies Committee and the Director of ISE, I joined partners with the ISE in setting up the Post Graduate Diploma in Conflict & Dispute Resolution (CDRS). Now over ten years later, with another year just completed by an 18 person group of outstanding people whose written Assignments not only exhibited the now expected high standard but also revealed a group of people who intend to contribute to their relative areas of work applying all of the richness, research and resolve exhibited throughout the year.

One of the features of this Course was to require the students to produce a personal reflective Log. Having just finished reading those Logs, I am left in no doubt about how society here, and further afield, will benefit from the time taken by these people to study and pursue aspects of conflict and dispute resolution which have been of particular interest to them or became so in the course of their time out to listen, research and reflect. Participants in the Course demonstrated an interest in civil and commercial disputes, women war and peace, the South African Truth and Reconciliation Process, International Mediation, International Peace Keeping and Peace Building, Restorative Justice, the deep rooted nature of conflict in Northern Ireland throughout many years from the time of Cromwell, the Plantation of Ulster, Williamite Wars leading up to the Nineteenth and Twentieth Century, the role of power in conflict, and the territorial nature of conflict. Participants in the Course evaluated the prospect of the application of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) methods in approaching conflict as opposed to the automatic use of the adversarial system.

In the course of the year, we reflected on the world of art which demonstrated how conflict and peace efforts had been recorded through the centuries. The medium of art, in a context of illiteracy and lack of access to the Press, provided a method of recording the agony and pain that people went through in the images which were created by the artists. In the last year we have looked at the growing social conflicts emerging in an environment of widespread violent crime. There has been a tendency in public opinion to find fault with the Courts, the Judiciary and sentencing practices so we have taken on board the subject of penal reform and the complex area of crime and punishment. We have discussed the causes of violence examining its roots whether human nature, environmental, behavioural, nurture, or even the possibility that violence is a learned behaviour.

One of our Students this year while reflecting on the opening evening of the Course, where the outline for the year ahead was described and the members of the Class provided their reasons and motivations as to why they had decided to give of a year of their time in this course of study, recalled that his trip home that first night was like a trip to an adventure park. ‘… One could not wait to get there and get started….’

I owe a debt of gratitude to all of those within the ISE who have contributed to CDRS and supported the objectives over the last number of years. I also depend on a number of practitioners, public servants, professionals, and Office holders who have provided, by way of a guest lectures, a glimpse of their world or practice at the coal - face. It was always one of the aims of the  CDRS Course to study the theories and also have an opportunity of looking at some of those theories in action. So my deeply felt gratitude is due to those who enabled this objective to come to fruition.

22nd September, 2010

________________________
Paulyn Marrinan Quinn S.C.,
Founder/Coordinator Conflict and Dispute Resolution Studies
ISE-Trinity College .

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