Mediation
Mediation is increasingly used in many countries of the world as a means of resolving construction claims and disputes. It is quick, economic, and provides a better opportunity for maintaining relationships between parties than other means of dispute resolution. It has been shown to be successful as a means of settling disputes, and it is understood that 70% to 80% of disputes which resort to mediation are settled through this process.
The Hong Kong Mediation Council, a division of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, publishes a very useful booklet explaining mediation, from which we have extracted the following:
The above extracts are applicable to mediation worldwide. For Hong Kong, the following extracts are also relevant:
The Hong Kong Mediation Council are currently promoting the use of mediation by means of a ‘Pro Bono Mediation Scheme’ for low value disputes up to HK$2 million. Under this scheme mediator’s services are provided free of charge for the first 24 hours which should be sufficient to deal with simpler mediations. Further details are provided on the HKIAC website, or contact may be made with Chris Morgan, Cannonway’s managing director, who devised this scheme.
Cannonway have been involved in a number of successful mediations and we actively support its use as an alternative to more formal, costly and time consuming methods of dispute resolution.
