Civil Mediation Council

Introduction to the CMC

The Civil Mediation Council (CMC) is the recognised authority in England and Wales for all matters related to civil, commercial, workplace and other non-family mediation. It acts as the first point of contact for the Government, the judiciary, the legal profession and industry on mediation issues.

The CMC is an unincorporated association of Members established in April 2003 by mediation providers, independent mediators, leading academics, legal professional bodies and government departments in England and Wales.

It has more than 400 individual, organisational and associate members and provides major conferences and forums throughout the year. It operates an accreditation scheme for organisations that provide mediation services.

The Ministry of Justice has used the accreditation scheme provided by the CMC as a mark of quality assurance. This is very much in line with Article 4 of the EU Mediation Directive28, which encourages Member States to develop effective quality control mechanisms.

“Solving disputes in the county courts: creating a simpler, quicker and more proportionate system A consultation on reforming civil justice in England and Wales” (http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/consultations/solving-disputes-county-courts.pdf)

Individual Member

Article 2.4 of the CMC Constitution confirms eligibility of membership as the following: "a "Mediator" is defined as an individual who conducts a professional mediation practice in England and Wales, whether solely or in conjunction with other business or professional pursuits, and who is qualified in accordance with such standards as to training accreditation or otherwise as the Board may publish from time to time."

Associate Member

If a person does not qualify under the CMC Constitution to be a full member, they can apply for Associate Membership. The difference with associate membership is that a person cannot stand or vote in Board elections, propose or second resolutions or appear on the list of members on the website.

Organisational Member: Accredited / Registered Mediation Provider Organisations

Individual mediators are not accredited by the Council. Mediators are accredited by Accredited Mediation Providers.

The Provider Accreditation Scheme and CMC Registered Scheme details require organisations and their members to meet a minimum criteria in terms of training and ongoing practice requirements.

The Ministry of Justice has used the Provider Accreditation Scheme provided by the CMC as a mark of quality assurance.

Background

The Civil Mediation Council (CMC) was established in the UK in 2003 under the chairmanship of Lord Justice Sir Brian Neill to be the neutral and independent body to represent and to promote civil and commercial mediation as alternatives to litigation and thereby to further law reform and access to justice for the general public[1]. It followed an initiative by mediator and barrister Jonathan Dingle to build on unsuccessful attempts to provide a single unified voice for civil and commercial mediation in the United Kingdom. On 11 December 2007, the CMC elected Lord Gordon Slynn of Hadley, the international jurist, as its President and Lord Justice Sir Henry Brooke, a former Vice President of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, as its Chairman.

Officers of the CMC (2013)

Chair: Sir Alan Ward

Immediate Past Chairman: Sir Henry Brooke

Vice-Chair: Bill Wood QC (also elected to represent individual mediators)

Treasurer: Richard Schiffer (who also represents the ADR Group)

Hon. Secretary: Iain Christie

The Board of the CMC: The Board of the CMC, in addition to the Chair, the Vice Chair, the Secretary and Treasurer, are the comprises representatives of: the Academy of Experts, the Association of Northern Mediators, CEDR, the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, individual mediators, the Ministry of Justice, the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, the Law Society, the Bar Council. A representative from Acas also attends Board Meetings, as an observer and to contribute from the Acas perspective, but has no vote.

Committees of the CMC Board: Academic Committee, Accreditation and Training Review, Communications, Government Relations Committee, Outreach, Conferences and Forums, Workplace

References

    Further reading

    Dispute Resolution Commitment: http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/guidance/mediation/drc-may2011.pdf Guidance notes on the Dispute Resolution Commitment http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/guidance/mediation/drc-guidance-may2011.pdf MoJ consultation, “Solving disputes in the county courts: creating a simpler, quicker and more proportionate system - A consultation on reforming civil justice in England and Wales” http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/consultations/solving-disputes-county-courts.pdf See, in particular section 3 (which sets out proposals relating to ADR).

    Resolution of the European Parliament regarding the implementation of Directive 2008/52/EC on certain aspects of mediation in civil and commercial matters in member states, its impact on mediation and its take-up by the courts (13 September 2011): http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P7-TA-2011-0361+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN&language=EN.

    UNCITRAL Conciliation Rules – UN Resolution 35/52 adopted by the General Assembly on 4 December 1980 http://www.uncitral.org/pdf/english/texts/arbitration/conc-rules/conc-rules-e.pdf

    UNCITRAL Model Law on Conciliation – UN Resolution 57/18 adopted by the General Assembly on 24 January 2003 http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N02/538/98/PDF/N0253898.pdf?OpenElement

    EU Code of Conduct for Mediators adopted in July 2004 http://ec.europa.eu/civiljustice/adr/adr_ec_code_conduct_en.pdf

    EU Mediation Directive – Directive 2008/52/EC of the European parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2008 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2008:136:0003:0008:En:PDF

    Access to Justice Final Report by The Right Honourable The Lord Woolf, Master of the Rolls, July 1996 http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http:/[]/www.dca.gov.uk/civil/final/contents.htm

    Review of Civil Litigation Costs Final Report by The Right Honourable Lord Justice Jackson, December 2009 http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/8EB9F3F3-9C4A-4139-8A93-56F09672EB6A/0/jacksonfinalreport14011

    HM Government ADR Pledge announced by the Lord Chancellor in March 2001 http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/docs/alternative-dispute-resolution-08-09.pdf

    Resolving Workplace Disputes - Department of Business Innovation & Skills, January 2011 http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/employment-matters/docs/r/11-511-resolving-workplace-disputes-consultation.pdf

    Solving disputes in the county courts – creating a simpler, quicker and more proportionate system: Ministry of Justice, March 2011 http://www.justice.gov.uk/consultations/docs/solving-disputes-county-courts.pdf

    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/25/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.