The government’s drive to encourage mediation instead of court litigation is diverting attention from cuts to civil legal aid and the consequent reduction in access to justice, according to a leading academic.

Professor Dame Hazel Genn told the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators' mediation symposium on Wednesday that the government’s drive to push parties into mediation reflects a ‘jaundiced view of the law’ and threatens access to justice.

She said the coalition’s focus on mediation diverts attention from the need to provide an accessible adjudication option, and is used as justification for removing resources from the civil justice system.

Genn said: ‘Mediation may be about access, but it is not about justice.’

She said the mediator’s role is to facilitate a settlement, without considering the merits or justice of the case.

Genn stressed the merits of mediation, but added: ‘Courts are not an optional extra. ADR is a supplement to a well functioning civil justice system.’