Centre for Dispute Resolution (CEDR) launches continuing professional development programme for mediators
Keywords: Continuing development, Mediation, Skills, Standards
The Centre for Dispute Resolution (CEDR) has launched its own CPD (continuing professional development) for mediators. Already the only organization worldwide to run a mediation programme in which only 60 per cent of candidates achieve Accreditation, its CPD goes even further in establishing a common standard that CEDR hopes will be universally adhered to. CEDR mediator CPD standards will provide a framework for individual development through a programme on continued training, education and experience in order that a mediator accredited through and registered with CEDR may be assumed, both in the UK and internationally, to provide a service of the highest quality and integrity. CEDR's CPD policy document demands that all their Accredited mediators will be expected to prove that they have maintained and enhanced their skills. In addition, CEDR is working closely with other organizations to create appropriate training and practice opportunities to reinforce a national standard of competence and conduct.
"It is our belief that a successful mediation environment can only be achieved if its users are confident in the professionalism of mediators. One of our priorities when we were founded in 1990 was to establish a rigorous training course. CPD is a natural extension of this philosophy", comments David Richbell,CEDR's Director of Training.
The UK Government has expressed its concern at the varying competence of mediators. In particular, a report on the Government-sponsored Central London County Court's mediation pilot scheme, published in July 1998, emphasized the need for common standards. The report states that: "there was great variation among mediators in the success with which they performed their role and many participating in the pilot scheme were very inexperienced ... and there is no clarity or consistency among mediators on the question of ethics or to whom, if anyone, the mediator owes a responsibility in mediations". Lord Irvine, the Lord Chancellor, again highlighted this issue at the CEDR Biennial Conference in November 1998, stating that there is a "clear need for common standards, common objectives and a common understanding - for the professions and for those who use them".
A distinction will be made between CEDR Accreditation and CEDR Registration. CEDR Accreditation follows a core five-day training course on mediation skills and process - the last two assessed. Accreditation is for life unless there is a serious breach of CEDR's Code of Conduct for Mediators. Registration, on the other hand, can only be achieved through ongoing compliance with the CEDR CPD Standards. These can be achieved by a variety of routes, for example, by being a pupil or legal adviser in a mediation or by attending simulated mediations.
For further information, contact Jo Cavell, Vikki Stern or Maire McAvinchey at CEDR, Princes House, 95 Gresham Street, London EC2V 7NA. Tel: 0171 600 0500;Fax: 0171 600 0501; E-mail: mediate@cedr.co.uk
