LinkedIn discussion - Civil Mediation Council and mediation regulation

This article was in reply to a post on LinkedIn, which can be found here

Chris, hope you had nice meal yesterday and were successful in to turning the conversation towards mediation regulation. Maybe you’ll tell me about it sometime…

I think you’ve bravely added to a very important discussion here…

Whenever the subject of mediation regulation comes up in conversation with other mediators, I find the same issues are raised.

1. Is regulation required at all?

2. If the answer to 1 is yes, is the CMC an appropriate body?

3. If the answer to 2 is yes, should the CMC be the only regulatory body?

My thoughts for what they are worth….

1. Is a regulatory required at all? It’s by no means certain, considering the very few complaints registered against mediators and bearing in mind (I believe I right in stating) that no mediator has ever been sued for negligence or malpractice whether a regulator is required at all. I except consistency of training and CPD is desirable, but I’m not convinced of the need for mandated uniformity across the sector.

2. Is the CMC an appropriate body? I’m not in favour of ‘compulsory mediation’ in the form currently proposed by the MOJ and as the CMC has supported this initiative throughout, I find myself at odds with them on this point (as do many other mediators I speak with). Apart from this one issue, I personally have no other issues with the CMC of any note. But I know many mediators who are very dissatisfied with many of their policies and procedures; so many mediators I speak to have their own misgivings (CMC members and not) that I really wonder if they have the support to act as a regulator.

3. Should the CMC be the only regulator? The legal industry can teach us a lot here I believe. Although no one would argue the legal regulatory framework in the UK is perfect, it does benefit from its multiple bodies, the Inns of Court, CILEX, SRA, The Law Society, all the Universities, etc, etc. It is a system which has evolved natural over hundreds of years, and each of the bodies keep close tabs on the others. Consider if you will, a regulator who had a monopoly, and what that could mean. It’s bad enough when a water company or train operator has a monopoly, but a regulator?? I think multiple regulators is by far preferable…

I look forward to seeing how this discussion develops…