THE PROMOTION of mediation as an alternative to litigation, which was of benefit to society as well as to the parties concerned, is a governmental task, according to the Chief Justice John Murray.
Speaking at the launch of the Dublin Solicitors’ Bar Association launch of its family mediators group yesterday, he said that it was a task which the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform could and should engage in for the benefit of society as a whole.
The growth in mediation in other countries was due exclusively to the fact that it was a process that had proved to be successful and valuable not only for those in dispute, but for society and the legal system, the Chief Justice said.
“It is in a sense an antidote to a too casual recourse to litigation not only as a first but as the only option,” he said.
It reduced the burden on the parties concerned personally and economically, and there was a saving for society both in terms of legal costs and in reducing the burden of costly courts systems, and it allowed them to function more effectively.
“For mediation as a process to take hold in this country, there is a need to heighten public consciousness as well as that of legal practitioners and other professions of its usefulness, its value and its availability,” he said.
“For this there needs to be some source of central direction. That is in my view a governmental task,” added the chief justice.
Measures to promote among the public at large, and especially among professionals and other experts, an appreciation and knowledge of the value of mediation would not require significant expenditure, he said.
In the medium term, if not even in the short term, a significant growth in recourse to the mediation process would bring savings for society as a whole not only socially but economically.
Later this year the Law Reform Commission will publish its proposals on alternative dispute resolution.