Civil and Commercial Mediation Accreditation Scheme

accreditation scheme logo

Scheme membership

There are two levels of membership:

Select a type of member from the list below to learn what they can do and how they become scheme members.

General member

Practitioner member

If you are interested in becoming a scheme member, select one of the types of membership above to learn more.

If you are already a member, view information about maintaining membership, known as re-accreditation.

CEDR

The Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) is an independent, non-profit organisation supported by multinational business and leading professional bodies. CEDR aims to encourage and develop mediation and other cost-effective dispute resolution and prevention techniques in commercial and public sector disputes.

Law Society Dispute Resolution Section

The Law Society Dispute Resolution Section focuses on all areas of dispute resolution including arbitration, litigation and mediation. Law sections are representative membership associations offering CPD training and best practice information and advice.

Accreditation scheme logos

The SRA operates a dedicated website for scheme members, providing secure access to the Civil and Commercial Mediation Accreditation Scheme logo.

Code of practice

All members of the Civil and Commercial Mediation Accreditation Scheme must agree to abide by the Law Society's code of practice for civil and commercial mediators (PDF 151K), which the SRA has adopted.

Failure to comply with the code of practice may result in disciplinary action.

The code deals with the fundamentals of civil/commercial mediation. It doesn't cover every situation that may arise.

The code covers aspects of mediation work such as the following:

Continuing professional development

General members of the Civil and Commercial Mediation Accreditation Scheme are expected to undertake a minimum total of 16 hours of continuing professional development (CPD) activities in civil/commercial mediation issues during their general membership; they are required maintain a record of such training.

Practitioner members of the scheme are expected to undertake a minimum total of 24 hours of CPD in civil/commercial mediation issues during their initial three-year practitioner membership and/or to comply with any specific training requirements that may, from time to time, be imposed by the SRA; they are required maintain a record of such training.

Lecturing, distance learning, Legal Network TV and other activities eligible for credit under the SRA's CPD scheme (but not the basic minimum of 24 hours of mediation training) may be counted towards the CPD requirements.

General members

What do general members do?

General membership of the SRA's Civil and Commercial Mediation Accreditation Scheme is for a one-off, two-year period. It is a stepping stone to practitioner membership for solicitors and legal executives who lack the experience required to apply directly for practitioner membership.

At some point during their two-year period as general members, they must apply to become practitioner members.

Practitioner membership guarantees a potential client that an individual has sufficient mediation experience to act as a lead mediator.

Non-members of the scheme are not barred in any way from working in mediation. However, mediators who belong to the our Civil and Commercial Mediation Accreditation Scheme are guaranteed to have achieved a given level of competence, and they have agreed to abide by a code of practice.

All mediators who belong to the scheme have successfully completed an SRA-approved training course.

How are general members assessed?

All general members have

How can solicitors and legal executives become general members?

If you are a solicitor or legal executive and are interested in becoming a general member of the Civil and Commercial Mediation Accreditation Scheme, please download

The documents above contain comprehensive information about applying for general membership.

Practitioner members

What can practitioner members do?

Practitioner members of the SRA's Civil and Commercial Mediation Accreditation Scheme have sufficient mediation experience to act as lead mediators.

Non-members of the scheme are not barred in any way from working in mediation.

The SRA has defined essential competencies and established a code of practice for civil/commercial mediators. All scheme members have agreed to abide by these rules.

Mediators who are scheme members have successfully completed a training course approved by the SRA.

How are practitioner members assessed?

All members have

Practitioner members must renew their membership, in a process known as re-accreditation, when their first two years of scheme membership end; subsequently, they must do so every five years.

How can solicitors and legal executives become practitioner members?

If you are interested in becoming a practitioner member of the Civil and Commercial Mediation Accreditation Scheme, please download

The documents above contain comprehensive information about applying for practitioner membership.

Under the development route (PDF 151K), you first apply to become a general member, after which you have two years in which to achieve the level of expertise required to become a practitioner member.

If you already have achieved the required level of expertise, you can apply immediately to become a practitioner member, without having been a general member; this is known as the direct route (PDF 151K).

Re-accreditation

Scheme membership doesn't last forever. Every few years, it must be renewed. We call this process re-accreditation.

Re-accreditation is a way of assuring consumers that members of the Civil and Commercial Mediation Accreditation Scheme continually meet the requirements for membership.

There is no re-accreditation process for general members. General membership is granted strictly for a one-off, two-year period.

Practitioner members must apply for re-accreditation after their first two years of membership. Subsequently, they must re-accredit every five years.

All solicitors undertake appropriate training and development activities every year, as stipulated by the SRA's continuing professional development requirements.

Information for scheme members

If you are a scheme member and you think your membership is about to expire, you don't need to do anything. We automatically send you the forms and all of the details you need. We will contact you at least two months before your membership expires.

To ensure the forms reach you promptly, review your entry in Find a solicitor, and immediately advise us by email if the contact details that appear there are incorrect.