Ethical issues in court-connected mediation

The exponential growth of mediation is in many ways linked to the use of mediation by courts and tribunals. Mediation is now an integral part of most civil justice systems with lawyers, judges and other court officials now participating in mediation in various roles, including as mediators. Specifically-designed rules have also developed to ensure that mediation achieves its goals of increasing access to justice within the court system. This paper will focus on ethical issues that may arise in court-connected mediation including the intersection between legal practice and mediation practice, lawyers' attitudes to, and practices in court-connected mediation and the realisation of the traditional values of mediation beyond dispute settlement. In particular, the paper explores elements of party self-determination and the extent to which those are preserved in court-connected mediation.