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Mandatory Coronavirus restrictions have been from Monday 19 July 2021.
So, how quickly will mediation be back to normal?
Probably not any time soon. The relaxation of madatory restrictions was on the basis that that the public exercise "individual responsibility, caution and judgement" in high risk situations.
Mediation is a high risk situation in terms of the risk of transmission of the Coronavirus:
(Graphic adapted from the BBC).
Basically, there's not much else you could do that would involve spending eight to ten hours, indoors, in close face-to-face contact with someone you don't know! Mediations, with the mediator going from room to room, are capable of being mini super-spreader events. Vaccines do not provide 100% protection.
So, it will remain appropriate to exercise "individual responsibility and judgement" in respect of mediations. The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and the Cheif Medical Officer, Chris Whitty, have both said that the government "recommends and expects" face masks to be worn for indoor meetings, with the Chief Medical Officer specifically highlighting indoor meetings of a prolonged nature (which includes mediation) as high risk. Which means that until the pandemic is completely over, and perhaps even afterwards, online mediation is likely to be the default choice. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. Our experience during the pandemic clearly demonstrates that mediation online works. Settlement rates are excellent (you can check out our Senior Mediator's online mediation record during the pandemic here: the mediations with a * were online) and fees are lower. Many mediators, and many litigants, have actually come to prefer online mediation.
But where a case simply can't be mediated online, from 19 July 2021 we'll be offering face-to-face again, conducted (hopefully!) responsibly in conjunction with our Coronavirus Mediation Protocol to make it as safe as possible.
