Ontario will see the staged introduction of compulsory mediation in civil lawsuits as a result of a compromise between Attorney-General Charles Harnick and Ontario lawyers and judges. Under the agreement, thousands of Toronto cases will soon be steered through a three-hour mediation session early in the litigation process. This is the first jurisdiction in Canada with rules that will pave the way for mandatory mediation. The sessions will be required within 90 days of a statement of defence being filed in a case.
Litigants can then either opt to carry on with mediation or proceed to court.
The procedure will add to their costs, although there is some disagreement over how much. Acknowledging the frosty reception his proposal was accorded by many in the legal establishment, Mr. Harnick said he saw the wisdom of agreeing to an independent assessment of the project before he expands it any further. It will ultimately be applicable to the whole province, but there is no way you are going to implement it overnight. The logjam was broken last week at a meeting of the Civil Rules Committee, a powerful body with 29 representatives of the judiciary, the ministry and the bar. The breakthrough came late in a long-running war of nerves between Mr. Harnick and some sectors of the legal establishment.