2.Main Content
ADR Research
Mediation and other forms of ADR are often promoted as "better" than going to court. Better is usually taken to mean cheaper, or quicker, or less stressful. These claims are often made by ADR providers trying to encourage people to use their services. Similar claims about the value of ADR are also made by government departments, as it is currently government policy to encourage people to try to resolve their disputes through ADR before making an application to court.
It is clear from anecdotal evidence that where mediation is successful, then it can be cheaper and quicker than litigation. However, it is also clear from research undertaken by Hazel Genn into mediation at Central London County Court that this is not always true. For example, in her research, where mediation did not result in an agreement parties felt that the case simply took longer and cost more. You can read an outline of her findings on 2007 Central London County Court.
Hazel Genn's research, published in 2007, gives a fascinating insight into mediation in county court cases over a period of ten years. But despite this, we do not have very much empirical evidence about the kinds of cases and circumstances in which ADR is likely to be successful, or the factors which need to be taken into account when deciding how an individual might best attempt to resolve a dispute. Hazel Genn's rather circular conclusion was that mediation works well in cases where the parties want mediation to work.
In this section of the site we have brought together outlines of research into mediation and ADR over the last ten years. We have summarised the key findings of each research project, and given information about where to find the full report, either on the web or in print.
Community mediation
1996 Neighbour mediation
2002 Community mediation
2003 Neighbour mediation and ASB
Civil mediation
2001 Civil disputes mediation
2004 Civil disputes mediation
Court-based mediation
1998 Central London County Court
2001 Leeds County Court
2002 Edinburgh Sheriff Court
2002 Court of Appeal
2004 Exeter small claims
2005 Post-Woolf litigation
2006 Small claims mediation
2007 Compulsory mediation?
2007 Central London County Court
Family mediation
1994 Family mediation
2000 Family mediation
2004 Family mediation
2007 Family mediation and legal aid
Workplace mediation
2005 Acas Mediation
Ombudsmen
2003 Public views on Ombudsmen
2003 ADR in Ombudsman schemes
2004 Financial Ombudsman
ADR generally
1997 ADR and litigation
1999 Paths to Justice
2004 Consumer ADR in the UK
2005 Citizen redress
Mediation generally
2003 Mediation in the advice sector
2005 Public awareness of mediation
Where to get more information about ADR research
The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) website has an on-line list of all research published by the MOJ (previously the DCA) since 1997 on:
Ministry of Justice research
The Civil Justice Council Website has a list of some national and international research on ADR issues:
Civil Justice Council ADR research
The Civil Mediation Council has comprehensive bibliographies of mediation and ADR research in its web library:
CMC library
The Scottish Executive review of evidence on the use of ADR to settle civil justice disputes has a useful bibliography of published research:
Scottish Executive ADR research
Updated June 2008
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