s 14 Representation by agent
14.—(1) A party to a mediation session is not entitled to be represented by an agent unless —(a) it appears to the Director that —(i) an agent should be permitted to facilitate mediation; and (ii) the agent proposed to be appointed has sufficient knowledge of the matter in dispute to enable the agent to represent the party effectively; and (b) the Director so approves. (1A) Despite subsection (1), in the case of a mediation mentioned in section 12(2A), the Director must not approve the representation of a party by an agent unless —(a) the party authorises the agent in writing to represent the party at the mediation session and to agree on the party’s behalf to the terms of any settlement or agreement reached at, or drawn up under, the mediation session; and (b) the agent signifies in writing that he or she is willing to represent the party at the mediation session.[Act 43 of 2024 wef 24/03/2025] (2) Subsection (1) does not prevent —(a) where a body corporate is a party to a mediation session — an officer of the body corporate; (b) where a corporation that is a body corporate constituted under section 10A of the Land Titles (Strata) Act 1967 is a party to a mediation session — a council or committee member or its managing agent; (c) where a statutory body is a party to a mediation session — an officer of the statutory body; or (d) where a society registered under section 4 or 4A of the Societies Act 1966 is a party to a mediation session — an officer of the society as defined in section 2 of that Act, from representing that company, corporation, body corporate or society, as the case may be. [4/2010] (3) Where a Director approves of the representation of a party by an agent, the approval of the Director may be given subject to any conditions that the Director considers reasonable to ensure that any other party to the mediation session is not substantially disadvantaged by the agent appearing at the mediation session and, where the Director does so, the entitlement of the agent to represent the party is subject to compliance by the agent with those conditions. (4) This section does not apply to a claim referred to a mediator of a Community Mediation Centre under section 18A of the Small Claims Tribunals Act 1984.[33/2018]