Arbitration and Mediation

Mr Hughes-Johnson is a Fellow (Arbitration) of the Arbitrators’ and Mediators’ Institute of New Zealand Inc. and holds an appointment as Fellowship Admission Assessor for the Institute. 

He is available for appointment as an arbitrator throughout New Zealand to determine commercial disputes.

He is also available to provide formal legal appraisals, whether binding or non-binding, in order to assist disputing parties to resolve disputes.

Arbitration is a formal dispute resolution process whereby two or more parties agree to submit all or certain disputes between them to an independent person called an arbitrator, for a binding decision.

Where the Arbitration is seated in New Zealand, the process is governed by the Arbitration Act 1996 and the Arbitration Amendment Act 2007. An arbitrator’s decision, called an award, is binding on the parties and is enforceable as a judgment of the Court.

The objective of arbitration is to provide a flexible and efficient means of resolving disputes quickly, cost effectively, privately and confidentially without necessarily adhering to the formalised, technical procedures of litigation.

Whilst arbitration is closely related to litigation, there are several key differences which make it an important and attractive alternative to state litigation.

In particular, arbitration gives the parties the power to choose their own decision maker, place and time of a hearing, and as far as they can agree, to control the arbitration procedures which may be varied to suit the nature and complexity of the dispute.

Mediation

Mr Hughes-Johnson is also available for appointment as a mediator to conduct mediations throughout New Zealand.

Mediation is a confidential and consensual dispute resolution process in which an independent and impartial mediator facilitates negotiation between the parties to assist them to resolve their dispute. Neither the parties nor the mediator are limited by rules of evidence.

The mediator is not a decision-maker, and the process is based on achieving co-operation between the parties. The mediator assists the parties to make their own decisions and agreements. The mediator's role is to guide the process so that the issues can be defined, the relevant information produced and options explored without undue delay or legalistic procedures.

When a dispute is resolved in mediation, a written agreement which sets out the outcomes of the issues that have been resolved at the mediation is signed by the parties - this is a mediated agreement.