Employment Relations Act 2000

Institutions - Mediation services

152: Mediation services not to be questioned as being inappropriate

You could also call this:

"You can't challenge mediation in court just because you think it wasn't suitable."

You cannot challenge mediation services in court because you think they were not suitable. This means you cannot say the mediation services were inappropriate because of what was discussed or how they were provided. You are protected from having your mediation services challenged in this way.

If you agree to settle a dispute through mediation, you can still challenge the agreement in court, but only in certain situations. You can challenge the agreement if you did not understand the effects of the settlement when you signed it, as explained in section 149. You can also challenge a decision made by a mediator if you did not understand the effects of giving the mediator the power to make that decision, as explained in section 150.

Nothing can stop you from challenging an agreement or decision in these specific situations, even if the mediation services themselves cannot be challenged. This is an important part of the law that applies to mediation services, as outlined in the Employment Relations Act 2000. You have the right to understand what you are agreeing to when you settle a dispute through mediation.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM60927.



Part 10Institutions
Mediation services

152Mediation services not to be questioned as being inappropriate

  1. No mediation services may be challenged or called in question in any proceedings on the ground—

  2. that the nature and content of the services was inappropriate; or
    1. that the manner in which the services were provided was inappropriate.
      1. Nothing in subsection (1) or in sections 149 and 150 prevents any agreed terms of settlement signed under section 149 or any decision made and signed under section 150 from being challenged or called in question on the ground that,—

      2. in the case of terms signed under section 149, the provisions of subsections (2) and (3) of that section (which relate to knowledge about the effect of a settlement) were not complied with; and
        1. in the case of a decision made and signed under section 150, the provisions of subsections (2) and (3) of that section (which relate to knowledge about the effect of conferring decision-making power on the person providing mediation services) were not complied with.