Taken for Granted

I found it rather surprising to learn that Belize — a former British colony located in central America — only recently had its first mediators trained (by professionals from Jamaica).  Britain is the country that brought most of our modern legal prinicples to the world.  One would have thought that mediation would be part and parcel to any legal system based on British common-law.  Here in NJ, we have such an advanced program in the court system to encourage (or some would say force) parties to resolve their own disputes without a decision from a judge or jury and the expense that it entails.  I wish Belize luck as they install a full mediation program into their court process.