Training and Networking Sessions for Court Volunteers

 

Court Volunteer Mediators are important partners of the State Courts. To promote the growth and development of individual Court Volunteer Mediators and the Volunteer Mediator Community at large, the State Courts Centre for Dispute Resolution (SCCDR) provides Court Volunteer Mediators opportunities to develop currency in their skills sets, to learn and interact with one another and to increase awareness of new developments in the Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) arena. Towards this end, SCCDR organises ADR training workshops and networking sessions for Court Volunteer Mediators.

SCCDR will extend email invitations to Court Volunteer Mediators for registration when details of these events are available. You may also look out for new updates here.

CVM Training on “Managing Court Users with Mental Health Issues”, 20 November 2020

The second training session of 2020 for Court Volunteer Mediators (CVMs) was held on 20 November 2020 via Zoom. A total of 89 participants attended the training. In the presentation, Senior Court Counsellors Samantha Sim and Valerie Chua presented on common mental health issues and gave tips on managing court users with mental health issues in various scenarios.

Following the presentations was a panel discussion, moderated by DJ Janet Wang. The five panellists were DJ Janet Wang (SCCDR), DJ Sandra Looi (CJTD), Ms Samantha Sim, Ms Valerie Chua and Dr Ronald Paul Ng (SCCDR CVM). It was a lively and fruitful session as the CVMs enthusiastically raised queries and shared their own experience dealing with different types of court users with mental health issues.

98% of the participants indicated that the training session met their expectations and objectives, and 91% of them indicated that they would be able to apply what they have learnt from this training.

Presentation slides for “Managing Court Users with Mental Health issues”

Training on “Mediating in the Shadow of COVID-19” on 5 June 2020

The first training session of 2020 for all Court Volunteer Mediators was held on 5 June 2020 via Zoom. A total number of 102 SCCDR and CJTD CVMs attended the training. In the presentation, District Judge David Lim discussed how COVID-19 has affected the practice of mediation, as well as the adaptations that mediators would have to make to their mediation techniques in order to remain effective when mediating (whether online or fact-to-face) in the post-Covid19 era. After DJ Lim's presentation, some CVMs enthusiastically shared their experience with the remote mediations that they had conducted so far. Queries were also raised and answered.

96% of the participants indicated that the training session met their expectations and objectives, and 98% of them indicated that they would be able to apply what they have learnt from this training.

Training on “Problem Solving in Mediation” on 26 September 2019

The second training session of 2019 for all Court Volunteer Mediators was held on 26 September 2019. In the presentation, District Judge David Lim revisited on the question of problem solving in mediation and explored some possible approaches that might help a mediator work more efficiently and effectively with the parties towards resolving their dispute within the short timeframe of a court mediation. During the panel discussion which followed the presentation, the participants shared their mediation experiences and exchanged their views with the panelists which comprised of SCCDR District Judges and Court Volunteer Mediators.

A briefing on the State Courts Towers was conducted to familiarise the CVMs with the new building.

95% of the participants indicated that the training session met their expectations and objectives and 100% of them indicated that they would be able to apply what they have learnt from this training.

Presentation slides for “Problem Solving in Mediation”

Training on “Head vs Heart, Ego vs Conscience: Dealing with Intrapersonal Conflicts in Mediations” on 16 April 2019

The first training session of 2019 for all Court Volunteer Mediators was held on 16 April 2019. In the presentation, District Judge David Lim shared his views and experience on how a mediator might help a party deal with intrapersonal conflicts so as to avoid unhelpful negotiation styles and consequent impasse, and enable him to negotiate more constructively in the mediation. During the panel discussion which followed the presentation, the participants shared their mediation experiences and had their queries addressed by the panelists which comprised of SCCDR District Judges and Court Volunteer Mediators.

96% of the participants indicated that the training session met their expectations and objectives and 100% of them indicated that they would be able to apply what they have learnt from this session.

Presentation slides for “Dealing with Intrapersonal Conflicts in Mediations”

Training on “Mediator-Lawyer Collaboration” on 21 November 2018

The second training session of 2018 for all Court Volunteer Mediators was held on 21 November 2018. As most of the parties who come to the SCCDR for mediation are represented by lawyers, this training session focused on the important topic of mediator-lawyer collaboration. It has been observed that depending on their understanding of the mediation process, their experience as mediation-advocates, their level of preparation and their mind-sets and attitudes towards the mediation, lawyers can help or hinder a mediation. Some non-legally trained mediators might find it daunting to deal with lawyers, while some lawyer-mediators might also find it challenging to deal with certain lawyers. In his presentation, District Judge David Lim shared his views and insights on how mediators, whether legally or non-legally trained, might find ways to build alliances with and collaborate constructively with the lawyers representing the disputants at a mediation. During the panel discussion cum Q&A session after the presentation, the participants shared their mediation experiences enthusiastically, and had a candid and open exchange of views with the panelists comprising of SCCDR District Judges and Court Volunteer Mediators, including a lawyer.

The feedback was very positive, with 100% of the respondents indicating that the training session had met their expectations and objectives, and 83% indicating that the duration of the training was just right. 100% of the respondents shared that they will be able to apply what they have learnt from the training session.

 Welcome remarks by Principal District Judge Thian Yee Sze

 Presentation slides for "Mediator-Lawyer Collaboration"

Training on “Working with Individuals with Mental Health Disorders” on 6 June 2018

In line with the training needs identified by our Court Volunteer Mediators, psychologists from the Family Justice Courts, Ms Leong Shengyu and Ms Sylvia Tan, gave a presentation on the topic “Dealing With Persons With Personality Disorders/Psychological Issues”. A panel discussion was convened thereafter with the two psychologists and District Judges David Lim and Koh Juay Kherng, to further explore these issues with the participants. The focus of the training was on effective communication with disputants who may present signs of psychological or personality disorders, anger, paranoia or anti-social issues which may hamper a constructive mediation process. The feedback was very positive, with 93% of the respondents indicating that the training session had met their expectations and objectives and 98% indicating that the duration of the training was just right. A significant 93% of the respondents shared that they will be able to apply what they have learnt from the training session.

Welcome remarks by Principal District Judge Thian Yee Sze

Presentation slides for "Working with Individuals with Mental Health Disorders"

Many thanks to the volunteer mediators (VMs) for the State Courts Centre for Dispute Resolution (SCCDR) who attended the Training on “Drafting Settlement Agreements” held on 14 September 2017. The State Courts are encouraged by the positive feedback from the survey and are happy to note that the training session had met the expectations and objectives of 93% of the respondents. The State Courts are grateful for the VMs’ active participation and enthusiastic sharing of experiences in mediating cases in the State Courts. Please click on the following for more information:

Welcome by Principal District Judge James Leong

Presentation slides for "Drafting settlement agreements"