A Future Uniform Regime of International Commercial Mediator Immunity: Limited, Party-Agreed and Statute-Required

Mediator immunity refers to the privilege of mediators’ to be partially or completely immune from civil liability. There are ongoing debates on whether to grant this immunity and both sides provide their arguments. However, mediator immunity is better supported based on mediators’ identity as experts rather than as judicial or quasi-judicial figures. So far, there are three degrees of mediator immunity: absolute, limited and differentiated. Among these, limited immunity is more effective in balancing the conflicting interests involved. Furthermore, mediator immunity may find its source in exemption agreements, case law or statute law. For the sake of certainty and predictability, parties should be entitled to provide mediators with immunity within limits by agreement, and the validity and effects of such agreements should be clearly recognised by statute.