Chapter 4: Comparative Mediation Law Mapping Mediation Law with the Mediation Matrix

Mediation is the fastest-growing area of consensual dispute resolution&nbsp; in terms of institutional and court programs and development of laws. Internationally, it is the subject of numerous cross-border legal instruments, most significantly the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation, also known as the Singapore Convention on Mediation (SCM), which came into force on 12 September 2020. From an international comparative perspective, it is imperative to establish a framework to conceptualise the law on mediation.<br><br>A systematic approach can lay the foundations for future international comparative research that is both academically robust and meaningful from policy and practice perspectives. Accordingly, this chapter focuses on mediation and highlights the relationship between law and mediation. At the centre of this chapter, readers will find the mediation matrix – a systematic approach to thinking about and analysing the law relating to mediation that draws upon regulatory theory. It identifies four aspects of mediation that can be subject to regulation. In addition, it identifies the types of regulation that are most commonly used in relation to mediation.&nbsp;<br><br>By bringing (regulatory) form and function together, the mediation matrix offers a language for comparing regulatory approaches to mediation. The key question addressed by the mediation matrix is: what aspects of mediation are regulated and how? Before addressing this question, however, this chapter offers some context and basic definitions to set the scene.