Section 70 Arbitration and Mediation Act 2023

Section 70 Arbitration and Mediation Act 2023 is about Commencement of mediation proceedings. It is under Part II (Mediation) of the Act.

(1) Where the initiation of a mediation procedure is prescribed by a special statute as a condition for the conduct of judicial or other proceedings, or where the parties have agreed when concluding the agreement to try to resolve the dispute through mediation before resorting to judicial or other proceedings, the party concerned shall propose to the other party, in writing, the conclusion of a mediation agreement.

(2) Where a party that invited another party to mediate does not receive an acceptance of the invitation within 30 days from the day on which the invitation was sent, or within any other time as specified in the invitation, the party may elect to treat this as a rejection of the invitation to mediate.

(3) A party can propose to the other party, a recourse to mediation process, regardless of all the other judicial or arbitral proceedings, before, during or after the initiation of the judicial proceedings.

(4) During any arbitral, judicial, administrative or other proceedings, the body conducting the proceedings may, recommend to the parties to resolve their dispute in mediation proceedings in accordance with the provisions of this Part where it assesses that there exists the possibility of resolving the dispute by mediation.

(5) The date of commencement of the mediation process shall be the date that the agreement to mediate was signed, where this is drawn up in writing after a dispute has arisen, or, in case of reference to mediation by a court, the date the court made its decision or, in any other case, on the date when the mediator took the first step to start the mediation process.