Upcoming Events   15 February 2012 Chairman's lecture Judge Fergus Blackie will address members of the Association of Arbitrators at the annual chairman's lecture.   07 March 2012 Court-aligned Mediation: friend or Foe? John Brand and Zarina Kellerman will discuss the implications of the court-aligned mediation process.       Recent Events   Draft Mediation Rules The Rules Board of the Courts of Law released a set of draft Mediation Rules which make provision for mandatory mediation in the Magistrate's and High Courts. The deadline for comments on the draft Rules was to be submitted by 31st October 2011. A joint submission was made to the Rules Board in relation thereto. The submission is a unique joint initiative by the private dispute resolution industry in South Africa. Parties to the submission are the Dispute Settlement Accreditation Council (DiSAC), the Africa Centre for Dispute Settlement, the Mandela Institute, Tokiso Dispute Settlement (Pty) Ltd, Equillore Group Limited, the Association of Arbitrators Southern Africa, Conflict Dynamics cc and the Arbitration Foundation of South Africa (AFSA). Copies of the Rules as released and the submission made by DiSAC can be found below.   DRAFT MEDIATION RULES   SUBMISSION TO THE RULES BOARD       DiSAC Standards The Dispute Settlement Accreditation Council (DiSAC) has recently released its standards of accreditation for mediation for public comment. The Mediation Accreditation Standards released is a major step towards establishing national professional accreditation standards in South Africa for dispute settlement practitioners.   DiSAC comprises a number of independent ADR service providers including: Association of Arbitrators Southern Africa through Fergus Blackie and Zarina Kellerman Charles Cohen Conflict Dynamics through John Brand Equillore through Khanya Motshabi Lead SA The Mandela Institute through Laurence Boulle Tokiso Dispute Settlement through Tanya Venter A copy of these standards can be viewed here.       News   14 September 2011 An evening lecture was presented by Professor David Butler. Members may view the discussions here.   17 August 2011 A simulated arbitration was presented by the Executive Committee.   25 July 2011 A workshop was held at the Western Cape branch. Further details about the event can be obtained from the branch.   21 July 2011 A presentation was held at the KZN branch titled 'Construction Conundrums'. It was very well attended. Further details about the event can be obtained from the branch.   13 July 2011 An evening lecture presented by Dr David Klatzow. Members may view the discussions here.   12 July 2011 A full day seminar on negotiations skills training was held. A big thank you to John Brand for a wonderful seminar.   25 May 2011 The AGM took place at the Inanda Club. Members may view the discussions here.   11 May 2011 An evening lecture presented by Professor Michael Katz on the new Companies Act was held. Members may view the discussions here.   25 March 2011 A morning seminar on " How to write an Award" and " How to conduct an arbitration" was presented by Judge Fergus Blackie and Barry Jammy. The seminar was well attended and members are thanked for their contribution.