In essence, mediation must be entered into by all parties freely and with the option to leave at any time. In practice, the outcome that a mediator reaches could be forced on one or both parties only if he or she were backed up by a higher authority, such as a court, for example. Sometimes courts do ask for mediation between disputing parties. However, a disputed outcome is rarely enforced. In such cases, the court usually makes an enforceable judgement regardless of the mediator's previous work.