Judicial mediation: From debates to renewal

• Main Authors: ROBERGE, Jean-Francois, QUEK ANDERSON, Dorcas
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2019
• Subjects: Judicial Mediation; Access to Justice; Coequality; Judicial Dispute Resolution; Role of Judge; Dispute Resolution and Arbitration
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/2773; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sol_research/article/4731/viewcontent/Judicial_Mediation_From_Debates_to_Renewal_draft_before_publication.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Judicial mediation involving a judge actingas a mediator in a court dispute has been implemented in many jurisdictionsworldwide as a way to overcome access to justice challenges. This innovationhas raised many debates on the changing role of the judge built on either its congruence with or divergence from judicial adjudication. Over the years, thesedebates have become increasingly stagnant. The evolving vision on access tojustice brings an opportunity to draw from the earlier debates and forge adifferent way forward. This paper argues that a coequality approach to understanding judicial mediation is a betterway to design the process in a way that respects the distinctive qualities of mediationand the justice system, and to create a renewed judicial mediation model. Basedupon Singapore and Canada’s strong commitment to access to justice andlong-standing judicial mediation experiences, the paper proposes an“Integrative Judicial Mediation” model.