The chair of Northern Ireland’s Dispute Resolution Service (DRS) has returned from a trip to Botswana.

Brian Speers, DRS chair and vice-president of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA), attended the AGM of the Southern Africa Development Community Lawyers Association (SADCLA) in Gaborone, Botswana from 9-11 August.

As a guest of the Law Society of Botswana, Mr Speers spoke of the challenges of establishing mediation within sometimes resistant legal professions, and explained the UK position of encouraging mediation including costs sanctions imposed for unreasonable refusal to mediate.