On 11 June, Hon. Judge Louise Otis delivered a lecture on “The Future of International Mediation”. Hon. Otis is an international civil and commercial mediator and arbitrator and a retired Justice of the Quebec Court of Appeal where she spearheaded the introduction of judicial mediation. Out of this stance, the speaker introduced the emergence of judicial mediation twenty years ago when she first implemented a pilot program of judicial mediation in Quebec. The experience turned to be a great success and since that time Quebec has had a leading and powerful judge-led mediation system.
Focusing on the future of international mediation, Hon. Judge Otis opined that the future will witness radical improvements in the effectiveness of mediation. The most important aspect, according to her is the effective combination of mediation and arbitration which comes either consecutively or in parallel. They may be also combined through hybrid forms of ADR, such as Med-Arb where the “neutral” partly acts as an arbitrator, and partly as a mediator. The perspectives of the future as well as the leading Canadian experience in developing a fully integrated judicial system aroused various contemplations and questions from the floor.
