This law builds on prior legislation from 2005 and 2018, aiming to further integrate alternative dispute resolution into the Belgian legal system. Key changes include mandatory establishment of KMS in various courts by September 1, 2025, promoting amicable settlements under the guidance of a judge acting as a mediator. The law seeks to enhance judicial efficiency and offer tailored conflict resolution options, though the maturity and preparedness of the legal landscape and professionals for these roles remain debatable.

Upon completion of three pilots, a national program was recently launched and the opening of several community courts is planned for the years to come. Community courts are part of an (inter)national shift towards solution-focused judging. Based on literature research, this background article outlines to what extent and how this shift has taken place. Internationally this shift was earlier described as a development towards judicial responsiveness.

This contribution reconstructs the development of court referred mediation in England and Wales, from the 1990s until the present, or, put differently: from the Woolf report ‘Access to Justice’, to the recent public consultations on ‘Dispute Resolution’ and on ‘Increasing the Use of Mediation in the Civil Justice System’ respectively. The interplay between case law and (empirical findings re:) trends in the number of mediations is highlighted. The article concludes with some reflections on full mandatory referral to mediation, as recently introduced for small money claims.