There will be a rapid change to divorce law procedure coming into force in the next few months, with echos of previous attempts to compel the use of mediation. The change will result in parties to all divorce cases and not only legally aided matters, being forced to consider mediation.
Quicker, cheaper and more amicable ?
The above phrase was cited by the UK Justice Minister as the rationale for the changes and whilst we would generally agree that ,mediation is often a better alternative to court adjudication, there is no doubt that cost cutting is also a prominent factor.
Evidence does seem to suggest that mediation is faster and cheaper than the court process as :-
- National Audit figures indicate that on average a case using legally-aided mediation is dealt with within 110 days whereas a similar matter going via the court system takes 435 days.
- Legal aid cases indicate the average cost of mediation to a client is £535, compared with £2,823 for cases going to court.
It should be rememebered that mediation process does not always result in an agreement and the process is non-binding.
In terms of exceptions to the obligation to consider mediation these include cases where either party or the mediator consider, with sustainable reasons thatmediation will not be worthwhile, the cases will continue in the court system and for matters which involce either domestic violence or child protection issues.
Click the link for advice on divorce.
