Once a dispute mediation committee has received a mediation application, what may it do with the parties before mediation begins?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In the practice material, we read the mediation application as received by the committee, any notice in which the committee presents the content of that application to the parties, and any paper recording a recommendation to reach agreement before mediation together with the parties' reply.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading follows the wording closely: the dispute mediation committee, on receiving an application for dispute mediation under the provision on filing, may present its content to the parties and recommend that they reach agreement before mediation, and both steps rest on the committee's discretion, since the provision says it 'may' recommend.
Another reading marks the limits of what this covers: the power belongs to the dispute mediation committee alone and switches on only once a mediation application has been received, and the provision does not say what the parties must do on receiving the recommendation, nor what effect an agreement reached on it would have.
Your judgment
If the parties reach an agreement after such a recommendation, what in the file could show whether that agreement binds them?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We look at this again if the provision is amended to make the recommendation mandatory or to set the effect of an agreement reached on it, or if a court decision explains what presenting the content of the application requires.