Penny Brooker – författare

The application of construction dispute procedures has changed dramatically in the last decade. This has resulted in an increased use of Alternative Dispute Resolution in many countries, and mediation in particular. Construction is one of the major industries using mediation, in the UK and in many other countries such as the US, China, Australia and New Zealand. This expansion in mediation has been helped by encouragement from governments, although it takes diverse forms in different legal jurisdictions, for example: court rules to encourage this use (as in the US and UK); the courts’ own mediation schemes or programmes, or legislation-backed programmes; or the use of industry driven mediation clauses in standard form contracts.

These developments have taken place extremely rapidly. They represent significant changes to the legal environment within which the international construction industry conducts its business but, to date, there has been little research on their impact. All these initiatives have inevitably led to a developing legal jurisprudence concerned with the validity of contract clauses or with providing statutory interpretation of the rules requiring or governing practice. This has important consequences for the construction industry because legal uncertainty increases the likelihood of dispute, which is not only costly for the disputants but can be damaging to national and global economies.

This book identifies the emerging international practices within construction mediation, and seeks solutions to the many legal and commercial challenges which they pose. It presents an international collection of reviews by experts, and allows a comparative commentary on the practice of construction mediation and the legal challenges facing its development.

The application of construction dispute procedures has changed dramatically in the last decade. This has resulted in an increased use of Alternative Dispute Resolution in many countries, and mediation in particular. Construction is one of the major industries using mediation, in the UK and in many other countries such as the US, China, Australia and New Zealand. This expansion in mediation has been helped by encouragement from governments, although it takes diverse forms in different legal jurisdictions, for example: court rules to encourage this use (as in the US and UK); the courts’ own mediation schemes or programmes, or legislation-backed programmes; or the use of industry driven mediation clauses in standard form contracts.

These developments have taken place extremely rapidly. They represent significant changes to the legal environment within which the international construction industry conducts its business but, to date, there has been little research on their impact. All these initiatives have inevitably led to a developing legal jurisprudence concerned with the validity of contract clauses or with providing statutory interpretation of the rules requiring or governing practice. This has important consequences for the construction industry because legal uncertainty increases the likelihood of dispute, which is not only costly for the disputants but can be damaging to national and global economies.

This book identifies the emerging international practices within construction mediation, and seeks solutions to the many legal and commercial challenges which they pose. It presents an international collection of reviews by experts, and allows a comparative commentary on the practice of construction mediation and the legal challenges facing its development.

In England mediation became a key part of the civil justice reform agenda after the Woolf Reforms of 1996, as disputants were deflected from litigation towards settlement outside the court system. The Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) give courts the power to ‘encourage’ mediation through judicial case management or use stronger measures by using costs to penalise parties who act unreasonably by refusing to use ADR or mediation. One of the effects of this institutionalisation is an emerging case law that defines how mediation is practiced as it is merges with the litigation process. When mediation first began to be used in England the parties either agreed to mediate by a contract before a dispute happened or decided to attempt the process as a way of resolving disagreements. Inevitably, some disputants either refused to abide by their contractual obligations or would not follow through with the settlement agreements reached through the process. This brought the authority of the law into a new area and the juridification process began.

This book explores how mediation law shapes the practice of mediation in the English jurisdiction. It provides a comprehensive examination of the legal framework for mediation, and explores the jurisprudence in order to analyse the extent that institutionalisation by the state and courts has led to the monopolisation by lawyers and a further ‘juridification’ process results. The book includes a comparative legal methodology on the framework underpinning mediation practise in other common law jurisdictions, including the United States, Australia, and Hong Kong, in order to explicate shared or distinctive approaches to mediation.

The book will be of great interest to academics and students of legal theory and dispute resolution.

In England mediation became a key part of the civil justice reform agenda after the Woolf Reforms of 1996, as disputants were deflected from litigation towards settlement outside the court system. The Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) give courts the power to ‘encourage’ mediation through judicial case management or use stronger measures by using costs to penalise parties who act unreasonably by refusing to use ADR or mediation. One of the effects of this institutionalisation is an emerging case law that defines how mediation is practiced as it is merges with the litigation process. When mediation first began to be used in England the parties either agreed to mediate by a contract before a dispute happened or decided to attempt the process as a way of resolving disagreements. Inevitably, some disputants either refused to abide by their contractual obligations or would not follow through with the settlement agreements reached through the process. This brought the authority of the law into a new area and the juridification process began.

This book explores how mediation law shapes the practice of mediation in the English jurisdiction. It provides a comprehensive examination of the legal framework for mediation, and explores the jurisprudence in order to analyse the extent that institutionalisation by the state and courts has led to the monopolisation by lawyers and a further ‘juridification’ process results. The book includes a comparative legal methodology on the framework underpinning mediation practise in other common law jurisdictions, including the United States, Australia, and Hong Kong, in order to explicate shared or distinctive approaches to mediation.

The book will be of great interest to academics and students of legal theory and dispute resolution.