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Mediation is viable 'up to point of final determination’

The second annual conference of the Irish Professional Mediators’ Organisation heard from sitting judge, GEMME president, and accredited mediator Ms Justice Marguerite Bolger that mediation is important as a dispute-resolution option.

The conference, held at the Dublin Dispute Resolution Centre (7 March), also heard from former solicitor and Court of Appeal Judge Michael Peart who said that mediation was a forum where parties in dispute could avoid the stress and additional cost of litigation.

Determination

Mr Justice Peart spoke about the potential of section 16 of the Mediation Act 2017 and the fact that mediation remains viable right up to the point of a final determination.

Prof David Hodson, a part-time family judge in London, spoke on the growing need of international families to deal with marriage breakdown through mediation, given the alternative of long, expensive, and adversarial litigation and complex conflicts of law.