Short answer. Yes. After pre-trial, once the issues are joined, the court shall refer the parties for mandatory court-annexed mediation. The referral is not optional for the parties or the judge — but it is bounded: the mediation period shall not exceed thirty calendar days without further extension.
What the law says
the court shall refer the parties for mandatory court-annexed mediation. The period for court-annexed mediation shall not exceed thirty calendar days without further extension.
Rule 18, Section 8 — Court. Read the full provision →
Mandatory — for everyone
The rule leaves no room for opting out: the court shall refer the parties for mandatory court-annexed mediation. The word shall binds the judge, and mandatory binds the parties. It does not matter that both sides insist settlement is impossible, or that relations have curdled beyond conversation — the referral happens as a stage of the case, the way pre-trial itself does. What is mandatory is the process, not the outcome: nobody can be forced to settle, and a mediation that ends without agreement has still discharged the requirement. The case then proceeds toward trial.
When in the case it happens
The rule fixes the moment: after pre-trial and, after issues are joined. That placement is deliberate. By then, the pleadings have defined what each side claims and denies, and pre-trial has stripped the case to its genuine disputes, marked the evidence and settled what is admitted. The parties therefore walk into mediation knowing the actual shape of the fight — what a trial would really be about, what it would cost, and what the realistic range of outcomes is. Mediation placed earlier would be negotiation in the dark; placed here, it is a clear-eyed chance to end the case before the expensive part begins.
Thirty days, and no more
The rule's second sentence protects the parties from mediation becoming its own delay: the period for court-annexed mediation shall not exceed thirty calendar days without further extension. Note the phrasing — thirty calendar days, and without further extension. A party worried that the other side will use mediation to stall can hold the process to that ceiling; a party hoping to buy months of delay by "exploring settlement" will find the rule was written against them. Whatever happens in the mediation room, the case is back before the judge within the month.
How to use the thirty days well
Treat mediation as a real opportunity rather than a formality to be endured. Come with authority to settle — or with the person who has it — because a session where nobody can say yes is a session wasted. Know your numbers beforehand: what the claim is genuinely worth, what trial will cost in fees and years, and what terms short of full victory you could live with. Statements made in mediation are for settlement purposes, and the mediator is a facilitator, not a judge — candour there is how deals get found. Many cases end in this window; whether yours can is worth thirty serious days.