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On 21.4.2009, the Chairman of the ADR Committee, Datuk Kuthubul Zaman, welcomed on behalf of the Bar Council a delegation comprising (10) senior Mediators from the Northern District Mediation Committee of Taichung City.  The delegation was led by Liu Bang Yu, the Secretary General of Taichung, City Government and Huang Shu Shen, the President of the United Federation of Taichung Branch.  Also present at the meeting were Tony Woon, Hendon Mohamed and Gunavathi Subramaniam. 

The main purpose for above visit was to gather information about the Bar Council Malaysian Mediation Centre (‘MMC’), its activities, services, the number and nature of disputes handled by the MMC.   

Datuk Zaman delivered a brief presentation on the MMC, setting out briefly, the history of the MMC, its objectives and services; the nature of disputes handled by the MMC as well as the Mediation Rules which govern the mediation proceedings.  He added that Mediation is not very popular in Malaysia.  However, the Government is trying to encourage litigants to resolve their disputes through the Mediation process.  It is in the process of passing a Mediation Act which will require parties to proceed to Mediation prior to filing an action in Court.  

During the discussion, Huang Shu Shen said in Taiwan, the Judiciary, the Ministry of Justice and the Attorney General promote the Mediation system.  He explained that the role assumed by the Committee is to promote Mediation and help reduce the cases in Court.  The Mediators would undergo a one-day training three times yearly, which would be conducted by Judges.  The Mediation training is a continuous process.  The Mediators are mostly comprised of legal practitioners.  There are about 13-trained Mediators in the Northern District Mediation Committee and approximately 10,000 cases are referred for Mediation every year.  About 80% of the cases handled by the said district involved traffic accidents.  92% of the cases are resolved successfully through the Mediation process.  The outcome of the process is as binding as an Order extracted from Court.   

In response to a query on the effects of the Settlement Agreement through Mediation process in Malaysia, Datuk Zaman said that if a case is referred to the MMC for Mediation by the Courts, the Settlement Agreement which parties consented to through this process would be recorded as a Consent Judgment in Court and this will be effective as a Court Order.  However, if parties come on their own accord prior to filing the matter in Court, the settlement can be used as a basis to file an action in Court.

Both Hendon Mohamed and Gunavathi were very impressed by the genuineness of the Taiwanese Mediators who offer their services at no costs to the members of the public.   

The delegation expressed their deep appreciation for acceding to their request for a meeting and welcomed the Bar Council to their Mediation Centre should they decide to pay a visit to Taiwan.