Mediation: An approximation to justice

There is social divide between the advantaged who enjoy the protection of the law and the disadvantaged who do not and this in turn leads to understandable loss of confidence in the law and the legal system, says Mr Justice Lightman. He wants to see increased public awareness of the benefits and availability of mediation; more public funds, facilities and trained mediators to facilitate mediation in all the courts and tribunals; and litigants encouraged to try mediation.

“I have seen litigants and their families broken by the process and by the cost of litigation. [Mediation can] open previously locked doors to a settlement. What it can afford is a mechanism through the efforts of trained intermediaries for opening the eyes of parties to the merits of the opponent’s case, the issues involved, the risks and costs of litigation and the attractions of a settlement.”