
E (A Child) (Mediation Privilege), Re [2020] EWHC 3379 (Fam)
Date: 07/12/2020
Mediation privilege; Family law
In this decision in the Family Court, the court decided that the application of the father did not come within one of the limited exceptions for waiver of the confidentiality that attached to mediation. Although this was a dispute in relation to child arrangements it is a useful indication of the attitude of the Court to attempts to pierce the confidentiality veil that surrounds mediation. As the Court said: “Parties must be free to discuss candidly all options for settlement and ‘think the unthinkable’ without fearing that their words will be used against them in any subsequent litigation“.