Mediation Act clears House, heads to Senate

On Tuesday, July 14, the House of Representatives approved the Mediation Act, introducing a statutory framework for how mediation is practised in Jamaica.

The statute covers community, court-ordered, and cross-border mediation. It also sets out how mediators are registered and how mediation service providers are licensed and supervised.

Through the Act, Jamaica will implement the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting From Mediation, which the United Nations General Assembly adopted in New York on December 20, 2018.

Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Hon. Delroy Chuck, steered the measure through the House. Members passed it with two amendments.

One change affects clause two, substituting “ordinary resident” for “habitual resident”. The other revises clause 11, which creates the offence of acting as a mediation service provider without a licence.

Minister Chuck said the offence already attracts a maximum fine of $1 million and is being expanded so that non-payment can also lead to a jail term. “So, clause 11, we will put after $1 million, the words ‘in default of payment of the fine, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months’,” he stated.

The Mediation Act fits within Jamaica’s alternative dispute resolution architecture, shifting mediation from a largely informal practice to a regulated pillar of the justice system.

Among its aims, the law embeds the mediation process in domestic statute to give parties greater certainty and to reduce ambiguity for international commercial actors. It also supplies courts with a defined basis on which to recognise and enforce agreements reached through mediation.

The Bill now proceeds to the Senate for consideration.