Lessons learned from a comparative examination of global civil justice reforms

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of recent civil justice reforms in five jurisdictions including Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, the UK and Canada on the resolution of civil and commercial disputes.

Design/methodology/approach – The study, drawing on a comparative cross‐jurisdictional methodology, reviews the scope and nature of such reforms and examines lessons learned regarding implementation.

Findings – The findings of the research indicate that such reforms are most effective where regular evaluation to fine‐tune mediation rules occurs concurrently and in conjunction with the implementation of such reforms.

Research limitations/implications – The limitation of this research is that it is confined to already existing court case statistics, judicial commentaries and reviews of the five selected jurisdictions.

Practical implications – The practical implications of the study find that in general, civil justice reforms have made some progress in achieving the aims of encouraging cost‐effective, expeditious and amicable case handling within the civil justice system.

Originality/value – The paper contributes to a global analysis of effective approaches to civil justice reform and in particular reforms in mediated case handling.