Below is an announcement from the Hawai’i State Judiciary’s Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution (CADR) regarding the Hawai’i Supreme Court’s recent endorsement of the updated Hawai’i Guidelines for Mediators. Links to the updated Hawai’i Guidelines for Mediators and Hawai’i’s Uniform Mediation Act are included below.
Mediation is a confidential, efficient, and cost-effective way to resolve disputes outside of court. Hawaii’s Uniform Mediation Act (HRS § 658H) establishes the legal framework to, among other things, protect the confidentiality of information shared during mediation and requires mediators to disclose any conflicts of interest before accepting a case.
To ensure consistency between HRS § 658H and the Hawaii Guidelines for Mediators, and to address current issues in mediation, over the past several months, the Hawaii Guidelines for Mediators was reviewed and updated by a committee representative of community, academic, government, and private practice mediators. The updated Guidelines were then submitted to the Hawaii Supreme Court who reviewed and endorsed them.
The updated guidelines are available via the link below. They offer guidance to support best practices and ensure compliance with Hawaii’s Uniform Mediation Act, as well as mediator competence, confidentiality, and addressing the issue of individuals facing intimate partner violence.
See below for the links to:
Hawaii’s Uniform Mediation Act – https://capitolwebsite.azurewebsites.net/hrscurrent/Vol13_Ch0601-0676/HRS0658H/HRS_0658H-.htm
Hawaii Guidelines for Mediators – https://www.courts.state.hi.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/SCMF-25-0000394-Revised-Guidelines-for-Mediation-1.pdf
