The Halsey Case

In Halsey v Milton Keynes General NHS Trust 2004 the Court of Appeal accepted that whilst the court may encourage parties to engage in private dispute resolution (ADR including mediation), if the court ordered the parties to mediate it would breach article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights ie the right to a fair trial.

Most commentators considered Halsey bad law because even if the court orders parties to undertake a private dispute resolution process, which includes mediation, this does not force the parties to settle and they continue to have access to the courts throughout the process.