A Guide to Judicial Mediation and Judicial Assessment in the Employment Tribunal of Northern Ireland
In this Guide, Law Centre NI provides information and guidance on Judicial Mediation and Judicial Assessment.
Judicial Mediation and Judicial Assessment were introduced to the Employment Tribunal in Northern Ireland in March 2023 to provide opportunities for parties to an Employment Tribunal case to resolve their dispute without the need of a formal hearing.
The information in this Guide is correct at the time of writing (April 2026).
For further advice and assistance on any of the topics raised in this Guide, contact Law Centre NI’s Employment Advice Line on 02890244401.
Judicial Mediation
A free, voluntary, confidential process which involves a Judicial Mediator helping the parties to an employment dispute reach an agreed solution to their Employment Tribunal case.
What is Judicial Mediation?
Judicial Mediation is a free, voluntary, confidential process.
It involves a Judicial Mediator, who is a specially trained Employment Judge, helping the parties to an employment dispute reach an agreed solution to their case without the need for a formal hearing.
The benefits of Judicial Mediation
Judicial Mediation provides the parties with an opportunity to resolve their employment dispute without a contested Tribunal hearing.
This avoids the financial cost of a Tribunal hearing, which might otherwise see the parties incur legal costs and/or time away from work.
Tribunal hearings can be very stressful and take a personal toll on the parties. This is particularly true where an employment relationship is ongoing.
By providing an opportunity to avoid a hearing, Judicial Mediation can resolve cases in a less stressful and contentious way.
You’re in control
Judicial Mediation allows the parties to maintain control over their dispute. The Tribunal is restricted in the remedies it can give a Claimant. However, the parties to a Judicial Mediation are not constrained in this way.
They might agree solutions to their dispute that a Tribunal would not have the power to order.
This could include:
- An apology
- A reference
- Confidentiality or
- A change in work pattern, for example.
A voluntary process
Judicial Mediation is an entirely voluntary process and you can decide whether to do it or not.
You can also change your mind at any time and withdraw from the process.
Both parties have to agree before a Judicial Mediation can go ahead.
High success rate
Judicial Mediation has a very high success rate in resolving cases. In its first two years of operation in Northern Ireland, around 76% of Judicial Mediations led to resolution on the day or shortly after.
The Judicial Mediation process
You’ll first hear about Judicial Mediation when you receive an appointment for the first Case Management Preliminary Hearing of your Tribunal case.
Once an employment claim is submitted, registered and a response received from the Respondent (employer), you will receive an appointment notice for a Case Management Preliminary Hearing.
Your appointment notice will include guidance on Judicial Mediation and a JAM1 form on which you can indicate if you are open to Judicial Mediation.
You can tell the Tribunal you are open to Judicial Mediation by completing and returning the JAM1 form to the Tribunal office at mail@employmenttribunalsni.org before your Case Management Preliminary Hearing appointment.
You can also tell the Employment Judge during your appointment.
As long as both parties are in agreement, you can email the Tribunal to request Judicial Mediation at any stage right up to the final hearing of your case.
What happens after the other party and I request Judicial Mediation?
Your request for Judicial Mediation will go to the President of the Employment Tribunal.
The President will decide if Judicial Mediation is appropriate in your case.
- If your case is suitable for Judicial Mediation, you will receive an email from the Tribunal with directions for Judicial Mediation. This is known as a Judicial Mediation Order. The Tribunal will also send a date for Judicial Mediation to take place.
- If your case is not suitable for Judicial Mediation, you will be informed that Judicial Mediation cannot go ahead and the case will proceed to final hearing according to the timetable set down at the Case Management Preliminary Hearing.
The Judicial Mediation Order and Statement of Expectations
If you are the Claimant in the case, you will be asked to send a Statement of Expectations and an up-to-date Schedule of Loss to the Tribunal in preparation for Judicial Mediation.
When sending these documents to the Tribunal, you should also copy in the Respondent to your email.
If you are the Respondent, you will be asked to submit a Statement of Expectations and draft terms of settlement. You should also copy in the Claimant when you send these documents to the Tribunal.
What should I include in my Statement of Expectations?
Statement of Expectations should include:
- A brief summary of your case and
- Your proposals for settlement.
The parties’ summaries of their case should not exceed one page in length.
What to expect on the day of Judicial Mediation
Judicial Mediation takes place at the Employment Tribunal in Belfast.
When you arrive at the Employment Tribunal building, you will be asked to sign in. You will then be directed to a room, which will be allocated as your room for the duration of the Judicial Mediation. You may have a representative with you and/or a friend or family member.
The other party to your case will have their own, separate room.
Shortly after you arrive, an Employment Tribunal Clerk will come into the room to make sure you are settled and have everything you need. They will also tell you who will be acting as Judicial Mediator in your case.
After a while, the Judicial Mediator will come and introduce themselves to you and talk to you about your case.
How much will the Judicial Mediator know about my case in advance?
The Judicial Mediator will have the following information in advance of the Judicial Mediation:
- A copy of the ET1 claim form
- A copy of the ET3 response
- Any correspondence with or orders made by the Tribunal relating to the Judicial Mediation
- The Statements of Expectation
- The Claimant’s up-to-date Schedule of Loss and
- Any draft terms of settlement.
What will the Judicial Mediator ask me about my case?
The Judicial Mediator will ask you basic details about your case and what you hope to achieve.
They might ask you for more detail about certain aspects of your claim or defence.
If you are the Claimant, you will be asked how much you are seeking in compensation and how you have come to figures in your Schedule of Loss.
The Judicial Mediator will ask if there is anything else you would like to achieve from the mediation, such as a reference, an apology etc.
What happens after I have spoken to the Judicial Mediator?
The Judicial Mediator will also speak to the other party.
Once the Judicial Mediator has been told each party’s position, they will shuttle between the two to try to reach an agreement.
Are there any ground rules I have to follow during the Judicial Mediation process?
The Tribunal Explanatory Note states the following ground rules:
- Each party is responsible for their own costs incurred during the mediation process.
- All parties will be required to give an undertaking that discussions at the mediation will remain confidential, and will not be referred to afterwards, whether agreement is reached or not.
- Each party must be able to decide on the mediation day whether to make or accept any offer or not (or have a decision maker available to do so).
- The parties are discouraged from submitting additional written material beyond that directed in the Judicial Mediation Order. If, however, there are a small number of crucial documents, the party relying on them should bring two spare copies for use if necessary (or send them electronically in advance if the hearing is to be held remotely).
The Judicial Mediator may also specify a number of ground rules before the Judicial Mediation session begins.
Can anything I say at the Judicial Mediation be used against me later on in the proceedings?
Judicial Mediation is completely confidential and ‘without prejudice’. This means that anything discussed at the mediation cannot be brought up at the final hearing.
The Judge who acts as Judicial Mediator will not be the Judge who hears your final hearing.
Any notes and records created by the Judicial Mediator will not be shared with the Judge hearing the final hearing.
Records of the Judicial Mediation will be kept separately from the main case file and destroyed within 3 months of the end of the reporting year in which the Judicial Mediation takes place, in accordance with the Tribunal Retention and Disposal Schedule.
The outcome of Judicial Mediation
For Judicial Mediation to be successful, both parties must be willing to compromise.
This means it is unlikely you will achieve everything you hoped for when first embarking on your claim.
However, research shows that most participants in Judicial Mediation are satisfied with the outcome of the process.
What if I am unable to reach an agreement with the other party?
If the parties have not reached an agreement by 4pm, the Judicial Mediation usually stops and the case will eventually proceed to hearing according to the time table agreed at the Case Management Preliminary Hearing.
The parties can continue to explore resolution of their case, building on any progress made during Judicial Mediation, after the Judicial Mediation ends and before the hearing.
The parties may choose to do this with the assistance of their Labour Relations Agency Conciliation Officer.
What if we do reach an agreement?
The Judicial Mediator will help you agree the main points of the agreement.
The Tribunal Clerk will contact the Labour Relations Agency and a Conciliation Officer will join you at the Tribunal to reduce the points of agreement to a written document.
This document is called a conciliated agreement or CO3. An example of a conciliated agreement is included below.
If you and the other party are represented, your representatives might draw up a legal agreement without the assistance of the Labour Relations Agency.
What happens after the conciliated agreement is signed?
Once the parties agree a conciliated agreement, the Labour Relations Agency will notify the Tribunal that the case is withdrawn.
The Tribunal will then issue a decision, dismissing the claim on foot of withdrawal.
Judicial Assessment
A form of case management during an Employment Tribunal claim in which an Employment Judge gives an impartial and confidential assessment of the relative strengths and weaknesses of the parties’ positions.
What is Judicial Assessment?
Judicial Assessment is a formal process of early case management in an employment legal dispute.
It sees an Employment Judge using their skill and experience to evaluate the parties’ respective positions and give their assessment of the strengths, weaknesses and risks of the parties’ claims.
The Judge’s view is impartial and confidential.
Judicial Assessment can help the parties by identifying what the case is really about and what is at stake. By narrowing the issues, Judicial Assessment can encourage settlement between the parties.
As Judicial Assessment is undertaken at an early stage in the proceedings, the parties and Employment Judge will not have seen any evidence by the time it takes place.
The Employment Judge will be expressing a preliminary view of the issues in the case.
When will I be given an opportunity to request Judicial Assessment?
When you receive the appointment notice for the first Case Management Preliminary Hearing, it will include an explanatory note about Judicial Assessment and a JAM1 form.
You can indicate on the JAM1 form if you are open to Judicial Assessment, and/or Judicial Mediation, and return the form to the Tribunal.
Even if you do not return the form in advance of the Case Management Preliminary Hearing, you can request Judicial Assessment during the hearing itself.
If the parties are open to Judicial Assessment, when does it take place?
If both parties agree to Judicial Assessment, it can take place at the end of the first Case Management Preliminary Hearing.
It will be up to the Employment Judge to decide if Judicial Assessment can go ahead or not.
Where the Tribunal is notified of the request for Judicial Assessment before the first Case Management Preliminary Hearing, the hearing will be listed for in person attendance at the Industrial Tribunal in Killymeal House, Belfast, rather than online by WebEx.
After hearing the Judge’s assessment of our case, can the other party and I agree a settlement?
Yes, you can agree a settlement with the other party following a Judicial Assessment.
To do this, you should contact your Conciliation Officer at the Labour Relations Agency to help you reduce the terms of the agreement to writing in a conciliated agreement.
If I do not agree with the Judge’s assessment, can I still proceed with my claim?
If you do not agree with the Judge’s assessment of your case, you can continue to pursue your claim.
This will see you and the other party complying with the directions given at Case Management Hearings until the case eventually reaches final hearing.
Before the case is finally heard, you can also consider undertaking Judicial Mediation.
Will the Judge’s assessment determine the final outcome of the case?
The Judge’s assessment of the case at Judicial Assessment is not determinative of the final hearing.
The Judge conducting the assessment will not hear the final hearing and their views will not be shared with the hearing Judge.