Q: What is court-annexed mediation?

 

A: Court-annexed mediation is the mediation of matters which a judicial officer has ordered to go to mediation or which are mediated pursuant to a general court direction (eg. a procedural rule which states that parties to a matter make an attempt to settle the matter by way of mediation before the first case management conference).

 

Court-annexed mediation is most often used as a pre-trial tool but the court can order matters to go to mediation at any stage–even after trial has started. Court-annexed mediations are conducted by mediators approved by the court usually by virtue of them having completed a specifically designed training programme.