No evidence that mediator behaved unprofessionally but there was poor complaint handling by HMCTS

What happened

Mr D took part in a mediation process because of a dispute with a local council. He was not happy with the process because he said the mediator and the other party in the mediation laughed at him. He took the matter back to court to be resolved. He lost the court case, and the judge ordered him to pay the other side's costs. Mr D wanted compensation because he felt the mediator had undermined the mediation process.

What we found

We partly upheld this complaint. There was no evidence that the mediator acted unprofessionally or conducted the mediation inappropriately. The evidence we saw showed the mediator followed the required process. However, HMCTS handled Mr D's complaint poorly. It failed to investigate his complaint properly and it did not address all the issues he raised. This caused Mr D frustration and as a result, he had to bring his complaint to us.

Putting it right

HMCTS apologised to Mr D for the frustration caused by its poor complaint handling.