Queensland Consolidated Acts

CIVIL PROCEEDINGS ACT 2011 - SECT 43

43 Court may refer dispute to ADR process

(1) A court may require the parties or their representatives to attend before it to enable it to decide whether the parties’ dispute should be referred to an ADR process.

(2) This section also applies if—

(a) a party applies to the court for an order referring a dispute to an ADR process; or

(b) the parties are otherwise before the court.

(3) The court may, by order (
"referring order" ), refer the dispute to mediation or case appraisal.

(4) Without limiting the court’s discretion, the court may take the following matters into account when deciding whether to refer a dispute to case appraisal—

(a) whether the costs of litigating the dispute to the end are likely to be disproportionate to the benefit gained;

(b) the likelihood of an appraisal producing a compromise or an abandonment of a claim or defence.

(5) If the court decides to refer the dispute to a mediator under the Dispute Resolution Centres Act 1990 , it is sufficient if it appoints the director of a stated dispute resolution centre as mediator.