In the maelstrom that is the Brexit process, the potential loss
of a minor piece of ADR historical affiliation may seem like a
small matter.
However, unlike other EU legislative norms such as employment
rights incorporated into British legislation which will be subject
to a general 'status quo' standstill at time of departure
from the EU, the Mediation Directive is singled out technically for
repeal because it is reliant specifically on application to
cross-border practices within the EU (the Consumer ADR Directives
are more mixed).
At the time it was incorporated into English law, the Directive
was restricted to cross-border issues and did not lead to or
require a wider domestic statutory jurisdiction. The English legal
system seemed to be workable for ADR without a mediation statute on
the basis of court rules and common law evolution even though the
Directive embodied some civil law general principles (such as
encouraging credible training and professional
