Priory Hall and the April Fool’s Day Legal Coincidences!

Open letter to Mr Thomas McFeely, Re the Priory Hall Apartment Complex in Donaghamede, Dublin 13

Dear Mr. McFeely,

Do you remember me, I bought a two bedroomed apartment from you back in 2006 for nearly €300,000.

I’ve just been offered a job in New Zealand and I’ve asked the local estate agent to sell my apartment and he wasn’t very upbeat about the prospects of finding a buyer until you can sort out all the fire safety issues but I with glad to hear that you think you can have all this sorted by the end of November, it certainly won’t help my prospects of selling my apartment on the basis that you probably won’t be able to make the whole complex totally fire safety compliant until maybe the end of February 2012 and when we all move back in again at the end of November I hear that we will have a 24-hour Fire Warden resident on the premises!

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Apartment Management Company Nightmare in Priory Hall, Donaghamede

Just  Imagine today  being a director or member of an apartment management company that has resident firemen on the premises 24/7 as the 187 apartment complex, Priory Hall at Donaghmede in the North side of Dublin is considered a “very serious emergency” and the High Court duly made an evacuation order which was sought by Dublin City Council with a stay on the order until Thursday morning. Unfortunately, for the residents it looks very likely that they will be under strict orders to  vacate their apartments under the direction of the team of security guards and they will have a resident Fire Warden on the premises most likely until the end of January 2012!

How do you move 187 people from their homes in this timescale?

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The UK Dispute Resolution Commitment 2011, What lessons for Ireland?

The UK Dispute Resolution Commitment 2011 replaces the old ADR pledge from 2001. It’s a new commitment aimed at encouraging the increased use of a more flexible, creative and constructive approach to resolving disputes. The new pledge offers an opportunity to demonstrate a best practice approach for businesses and in particular as to how their disputes might be managed and resolved in future. It affords a great opportunity for government departments and state bodies to demonstrate their real commitment to resolving disputes quickly and effectively using modern alternate dispute resolution mechanisms such as mediation. , Read the rest of this entry »

Deadline for Scholarship Essays to be Submitted;

Trainee accountants, apprentice solicitors and barristers and other trainees such as architects and chartered secretaries ,have a great opportunity to submit a Great essay before Tuesday,1st May 2012  in order to be in with a chance to win a scholarship place on the forthcoming Foundation Course in Accredited Mediation, taking place on Friday 11th & Saturday 12th May 2012 in Dublin, successful candidates will go on then to complete Part 2, The Advanced Course and on successful completion of the examination process in September 2012 or January 2013, they will be eligible to join the panel of mediators with Mediation Forum Ireland and be entitled to the designation, Accredited Mediator. Full details of how to apply can be found here on this website under the scholarship section and those wishing to apply who miss this deadline can still submit an essay for the next Foundation Training which will take place in November 2012 in Dublin.

EU Mediation Directive now implemented in Ireland:

The Minister for Justice and Equality, Alan Shatter TD, has recently signed new regulations which came into effect here on 18th May 2011, giving full effect to the 2008 Mediation Directive of the European Parliament on certain aspects of mediation in civil and commercial matters. Similar regulations have also been signed in Northern Ireland and are relevant to cross-border disputes. The court now in proceedings concerning a relevant dispute, on the application of any of the parties or of its own motion, may, when it considers it appropriate to do so in having regard to all the circumstances of the case, order that the proceedings, or any issue therein be adjourned for such time as the court considers just and convenient.

The court may invite the parties to use mediation to settle or determine the relevant dispute. The court may also invite the parties to attend an information session on the use of mediation. The regulations provide for a new procedure whereby the parties may apply to the Master of the High Court for an order making any settlement agreement, a rule of court and such an order shall thereafter be enforceable against the parties. Further regulations may be required setting out the procedure in the Master’s Court.

These new regulations are very similar to Order 56A of the Rules of the Superior Courts which came into operation on 16th November 2010. Work appears to be well under way with regard to the drafting of the proposed new Mediation and Conciliation Bill 2011 and a general scheme is expected to be published later this year or early next year along the lines of the proposals from the Law Reform Commission in their Final Consultation Paper which was published in December 2010.

Mediation: Ahern signs provision to promote mediation in the High Court

The Minister for Justice and Law Reform, Dermot Ahern, T.D., has introduced new High Court rules to promote mediation and conciliation in proceedings in the Superior Courts. The rules were introduced following provisional recommendations from the Law Reform Commission in its Consultation Paper on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). Read the rest of this entry »

“Trouble on the Bus”, Call in the Mediation Police

A Dublin Solicitor, just back from a business trip in China spotted an unusual looking bus whilst he was stuck in a massive traffic jam in one of China’s major cities. Having recently completed an Accredited Mediator Training in Dublin, the signage on this funny looking bus caught his immediate attention. City Bus in the Chinese capital Beijing have just added a new route to their vast network, a ”Mediation Bus”. It’s an unique initiative aimed at dealing with growing disputes and altercations on the buses in the city to and reduce pressure on the capital stressed out transport officials. Read the rest of this entry »

A New Practice Direction from Malaysian Chief Justice on Mediation

The Chief Justice of Malaysia, Tun Zaki Azmi has issued a  new practice direction to  the judiciary to encourage mediation in the Malaysian courts. These judiciary worldwide are sending a clear message to litigants that the courts should not be seen as the first recourse to justice and now disputing parties will have the option of going for court assisted mediation, a free service to the public as long as solicitors and barristers are not engaged or the option of a special one-day mediation at the Malaysian Mediation Centre of the Bar Council.
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The New High Court Rules on Mediation

A new Order 56A , S.I. No. 502 of 2010, Rules of the Superior Courts (Mediation and Conciliation) 2010, will come into effect on 16th  November 2010 and will be similar to the procedure in the Commercial Court whereby a High Court judge may now adjourn legal proceedings to allow the parties engage in an ADR process.  This means mediation, conciliation or any other dispute resolution process approved by the High Court. These rules will contain a costs sanction for those who fail or refuse without good reason to participate in an ADR process. Read the rest of this entry »

Mediation: Alternative Dispute Resolution and the Commercial Court. How India can learn from the Irish Experience?

An article in the current issue of the Arbitration and ADR review, Alternative Dispute Resolution and the Commercial Court, written by the judge in charge of the list, Mr. Justice Peter Kelly, gives an interesting insight into the history, role and effectiveness of mediation in the Commercial Court. Read the rest of this entry »

Mediator To Join Union Talks With Aer Lingus – Irish Independent – 13th August 2010

AER Lingus and its cabin crew will be invited to talks by a state mediation body in a last-ditch bid to end a dispute over new rosters.

It is understood that the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) will intervene next week to try and resolve a dispute over an increase in their flying hours to 850 a year.

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In-House CPD Training in your Office, with Brian Walker, Barrister

In-House CPD Training in your Office in 2012, with Brian Walker, Barrister

Dates are now available for Brian Walker BL, mornings or afternoons, or day long training, 7 CPD Credits  for a full day including soft copies of the course documentation. Call  Deirdre to reserve a date: 01 6790975 or if you need any more information or wish to talk through the various options below, you decide how many and in how much detail you wish to go with regard to the various modules below and please bear in mind there is a lot of material here from which you can choose.

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Mediation: New Work Opportunities for Mediators

The new Mud’s Bill has now passed all stages in the Seanad and has gone to Report Stage in the Dail. It’s a whole new corporate governance code for apartment management companies and housing schemes and its inevitable that this new legislation, expected to be enacted in December 2010 and  will present interesting new opportunities for those in a position to take on this new work. Read the rest of this entry »

The Development of Mediation in Ireland: Lessons from Other Jurisdictions

In the 1970’s it was recognised in numerous jurisdictions[1] that the adversarial nature of litigation cultivates complexity and delay leading to increasing cost and in turn decreasing the access to justice for citizens.

This was compounded in the British and Irish jurisdictions by the publication of Lord Woolf’s Access to Justice Final Report[2]. This report highlighted again, this problem and the solution recommended by Lord Woolf was the simplification of regulations and promotion of a co-operative approach to dispute resolution. Read the rest of this entry »