The European Court of Human Rights in Semenya v. Switzerland held that where athletes must accept Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) jurisdiction as a condition of participation, consent is not genuinely voluntary. When arbitration effectively displaces national courts, Article 6 fair-trial guarantees independence, impartiality, reasoned and (in principle) public decisions, and effective judicial oversight — must be met. The Court found material deficiencies in these guarantees in the case of the CAS.

Contrast this with the emerging jurisprudence supporting court powers to direct parties to mediation. In Churchill v. Merthyr Tydfil CBC, the English Court of Appeal confirmed that compelling non-court dispute resolution, including mediation, need not breach the right of access to the court, provided parties retain the ability to litigate. 

Mandatory attendance at mediation does not extinguish adjudicative rights, but an adjudicative process like arbitration, that blocks access to the courtroom might.

For practitioners, the rejection by the ECHR of mandatory arbitration is yet another signpost that mediation, whether mandatory or otherwise, is becoming the dispute resolution process of choice. Systems across Europe are expanding mediation requirements because the process preserves party autonomy and judicial recourse while reducing cost, delay and animosity. 

We are seeing demand for skilled, ethically grounded mediators accelerating across commercial, workplace and public-sector settings.

If you want to add a future-proof capability to your practice and help parties resolve disputes without compromising procedural rights — now is the time to train. 

Our next Accredited Mediation Practitioner Programme delivers rigorous skills development, legal/ethical frameworks, supervised practice and accreditation recognised across jurisdictions.

Register a place today on our next Accredited course in Dublin commencing January 7th 2026.

For more information visit: Mediator Academy’s Accredited Mediation Training