How hard is it to say sorry? Sometimes in mediation it is what a party wants the most but cannot get, perhaps because the other party thinks they might be admitting they were at fault. In a mediation context, an apology can transform negotiations. It costs nothing but means a lot.
Now according to the Law Society Gazette an MP has begun his attempt to change the law to ensure apologies are not regarded as an admission of liability.
John Howell will introduce the Apologies Bill as a ten-minute rule bill aiming to shift the nature of organisations’ response to mistakes, the Gazette reports.
Howell, an associate of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on ADR, told the Law Society Gazette that he is not trying to take away anyone’s rights to go to court to settle a dispute.
Instead he aims to introduce an ‘element of civility and common sense’ into society, allowing parties to give a sincere apology without creating a legal liability. This, he argued, is more likely to result in a dispute being settled without parties running up large costs in court.
Howell said: ‘It should be the mark of both a mature democratic society, and, of its dispute resolution system, that an apology, whether made publicly or privately, can and should be allowed to be meaningful, and, helpful rather than simply a necessary yet tokenist gesture.
The Compensation Act 2016 already provides for apologies in breach of duty cases but Mr Howells’ bill would extend that further into other areas.