Free Webinar - Judicial Review and mediation: do they go together?

Increasingly, the potential role of mediation in public law/judicial review litigation is being discussed. It is understood that the Ministry of Justice is interested in how mediation may apply to judicial review claims, and the Administrative Law Bar Association (ALBA) will be consulting its members shortly on this issue.

To assist in the debate, this webinar discussed the experience so far, the pros and cons of its use and the practical steps required, including cost considerations.

Attendees gained a better understanding as to how mediation might be used in judicial review cases, whether there is a place for mediation, and if so, what added value it can bring, with reference to some examples of judicial review cases where mediation has been used.

Agenda

Welcome & Intro - Tim Baldwin, Garden Court Chambers (Chair)

What do we know from the research on mediation’s role in JR? What is its value? Where does it fit in the justice landscape? - Margaret Doyle, Garden Court Chambers

Advantages & disadvantages of using mediation in judicial review, the stages at which it can be used, how it applies to different classes of cases and what is practically required - David Watkinson, Garden Court Chambers

Costs considerations: how to work around current challenges - Helen Curtis, Garden Court Chambers
 

Speaker Bios

Tim Baldwin, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers (Chair)
Tim Baldwin is ranked as a leading junior in the Legal 500 for Court of Protection and Community Care, Social Housing and Administrative Law & Human Rights and is ranked in Chambers & Partners in Social Housing and Community Care. Tim is known for his fierce commitment to representing vulnerable, marginalised and disadvantaged clients. Tim is highly regarded for his public and administrative law practice, which includes housing, community care and social welfare, Court of Protection and DOLS, civil liberties, human rights and inquests, planning, general administrative and public law, commercial judicial review and judicial review of regulatory bodies and Ombudsman cases. He has appeared in a number of reported cases in the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Court, and Upper Tribunal, as well as significant inquests. Tim writes regularly for the Garden Court Chambers Social Welfare Updates Blog and was a contributing author to the LAG books Adult Social Care Law and Children’s Social Care Law by the late Stephen Knafler QC and is the editor of the Community Care Law Reports.

Margaret Doyle, Researcher, Author & Mediator, Garden Court Chambers
Margaret is both a Visiting Research Fellow with the University of Essex School of Law and highly experienced mediator, she combines her rights-based mediation practice with research that explores the role of mediation and ombuds in administrative justice. In 2022, Margaret became the first mediator in England to be certified as a specialist mediator in disputes involving older people. Margaret wrote the first guide to appropriate dispute resolution in the UK, Advising on ADR, published in 2000 by the Advice Services Alliance, where she worked with the independent advice service to develop awareness of alternatives to litigation for social welfare issues. She worked with the Public Law Project to carry out the first UK research into mediation in judicial review (2009-11). She is a member of the Academic Panel of the Administrative Justice Council, the College of Mediators and is accredited under the SEND Practice Standards and certified by the Elder Mediation International Network (EMIN). Margaret writes regularly for the mediation team blog.

David Watkinson, Barrister & Mediator, Garden Court Chambers
David is a founding member of Garden Court Chambers and was Joint Head of Chambers. While a practising barrister for 40 years (1973 – 2012) he represented clients in courts at all levels from the Magistrates' courts to the Court of Appeal, the House of Lords and the European Court of Human Rights. The cases included civil claims (including Judicial Review) arising from land and housing issues such as possession, homelessness, breach of contract, disrepair, unlawful eviction and adverse possession and also equality and discrimination issues related to housing, as well as prosecutions for housing offences on behalf of both local authorities and individual clients. 

His various capacities included being a member of the Civil Justice Council, where he was its first Chair of the Housing and Land (later Property) Committee which drafted dispute resolution procedures (Pre-Action Protocols for possession claims based on rent arrears and for mortgage arrears which came into force in 2006 and 2008 respectively). His writings include being a contributing author to Gypsy and Traveller Law (3rd ed-2020). Since qualifying as a mediator, David has adapted his advocacy skills to the task of assisting parties in dispute to discover for themselves a solution acceptable to them. He has both represented clients at mediation, as well as mediating disputes. David writes regularly for the mediation team blog. 

Helen Curtis, Barrister & Mediator, Garden Court Chambers
Helen is a trained, experienced mediator with ‘excellent interpersonal skills’ and an ability to ‘keep the focus on coming to an agreement’.  She is calm and relaxed from the first point of contact with the parties and her constructive approach acknowledges the parties’ needs at the outset. Helen helps parties reach a resolution in cases that are commercially sensitive, complex and where disputes invoke a high degree of strong emotion or sensitivity. She brings skills required in litigation namely energy, insight and stamina to effective use in the mediation process. Helen writes regularly for the mediation team blog. Helen writes regularly for the mediation team blog.