Mediation or Litigation in the UK

Mediation in the UK has a long and deeply rooted tradition. For centuries, it has been used for a peaceful and calm settlement of disagreements between married couples. This negotiation tool proved to be so effective in civil matters that it was successfully used to resolve commercial disputes. What is the peaceful settlement of disputes in the UK and how mediation works in the UK today can be found in this material.

Difficult but effective

To date, the number of companies that prefer to resolve the dispute out of court and come to a common decision that is beneficial to all parties has increased significantly in England. There are fewer people who would like to bring the conflict to court. However, one should not draw the entire process of mediation only in bright colors. This process can be difficult, psychologically uncomfortable, colored by negative emotions. Nevertheless, many law professionals support the opinion that in most cases the result of mediation is positive for both parties.

Mediator - what is this profession all about?

The mediator is primarily a coordinator. His professional skills, experience in conducting such negotiations, as well as a deep knowledge of human psychology are extremely important. However, if you decide to resolve the dispute in the UK, you should be aware that the mediator is responsible for the process so that the parties can qualitatively convey their position to the opponent. However, the mediator is not responsible for the final result, since he does not make decisions and does not have the right to give direct advice to the participants in the process. The mediator is a kind of judge in the boxing ring, who is primarily responsible for observing the rules of the fight, but not for its result.

Litigation as the ultimate solution

However, there are cases, and, unfortunately, there are still a lot of them when the parties do not come to a positive outcome through mediation. This happens for one of the following reasons:

• The expectations of the parties were overstated and did not materialize;
• Financial information is not fully transmitted;
•  Disagreement in the applicable law;
• One of the parties, or both, nevertheless prefers to go to court, rather than mediation as a method of peaceful dispute settlement in the UK.

In such cases, negotiations may be suspended or the parties may appeal to the court. Usually, lawyers try to resolve the dispute out of court, but sometimes the courts are the only remaining way to resolve the dispute, which can stop this dispute.

The decision will be made by an independent, impartial party (judge) within the framework of the law and the evidence presented.

Unlike litigation, mediation in England is based on good faith and trust, it appeals more to the best human qualities of the participants in the process.

A positive result depends largely on the qualifications of the intermediary. But it is also very important that the parties’desire to reach a positive decision and their willingness to give up some of their ambitions, to compromise and eventually get a win-win result.

If you are interested in the pre-trial settlement of disputes in the UK, IQ Decision UK experts note that even if the participants did not reach a common agreement, they began to better understand the problem from the inside, the arguments and opinions of other parties, the strengths and weaknesses of their arguments.

It must be admitted that many people do not know what mediation is, and if they have heard about it, they do not know how it works or even have unfounded prejudices towards it.