A recent Court of Appeal decision is the latest instance of the court expressly sending a message to litigants confirming what it expects of them regarding mediation within the court process: Thakkar v Patel [2017] EWCA Civ 117.
Upholding a first instance decision which it described as "severe, but not so severe that this court should intervene", the court refused to overturn a costs sanction on a party who had agreed to mediate but then "dragged its heels" in the discussions over the arrangement of the mediation, to the point where the other party ultimately abandoned the process.
The Court of Appeal has in recent years made clear to litigants that it now expects them to be proactive and engage constructively with each other during proceedings to fully explore the potential for the dispute to be mediated – to the point where ignoring a mediation proposal will usually warrant a costs sanction even if the circumstances were such that an outright refusal to mediate would have been justified (PGF II SA v OMFS [2013] EWCA (Civ) 1288).
The present case confirms that, where mediation is appropriate, the constructive engagement expected by the court also requires that the parties cooperate and act proactively in the arrangement of the mediation: "It behoves both parties to get on with it. If one party frustrates the process by delaying and dragging its feet for no good reason, that will merit a costs sanction". To read more, please see this post on our ADR Notes blog.
