Regulation of Mediators
Hitherto, whilst mediators, such as lawyers, who are also members of various professions, are regulated within their own profession, there has been no system of regulation for mediators as such. The Civil Mediation Council, a UK association of mediation providers, has now announced the creation of two voluntary registration schemes, a code of practice and an independent complaints review scheme. The proposals have been developed in co-operation with the Ministry of Justice, HM Courts Service, the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and other interested organisations.
Whilst it was initially intended that the scheme would be put in place by January 1st 2009, a slight delay was encountered at a meeting just before Christmas, when members requested more time for consideration of the proposals. As a result, the consultation period over the proposals has been extended to the end of January with the proposals being presented for formal adoption on the 30th March 2009.
However members of the CMC did approve a scheme to register workplace mediators to meet the needs of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. We will post details of this scheme when available.