86Referral of retail tenancy disputes for alternative dispute resolution

86 Referral of retail tenancy disputes for alternative dispute resolution S. 86(1) amended by No. 16/2017 s. 44(1). (1) Any or all of the parties to a retail premises lease may refer a retail tenancy dispute to the Small Business Commission for mediation. S. 86(1A) inserted by No. 62/2014 s. 56, amended by No. 16/2017 s. 44(1). (1A) A guarantor of a tenant's obligations under a lease who has been called on to perform any of those obligations may refer a retail tenancy dispute referred to in section 81(1A) to the Small Business Commission for mediation. S. 86(1B) inserted by No. 62/2014 s. 56, amended by No. 16/2017 s. 44(1). (1B) A person who has given an indemnity to a landlord for loss or damage arising as a result of a breach by a tenant of a lease and who has been called on to indemnify the landlord accordingly may refer a retail tenancy dispute referred to in section 81(1A) to the Small Business Commission for mediation. (2) The referral must be accompanied by the application fee, which must not be more than the maximum fee (if any) prescribed by the regulations. Note to s. 86(2) amended by No. 16/2017 s. 44(2). The parties may ask the Commission for preliminary assistance before referring the retail tenancy dispute (see section 85). S. 86(2A) inserted by No. 82/2005 s. 36, amended by No. 16/2017 s. 44(3). (2A) The Small Business Commission may join any person that it considers it appropriate to join as a party to the mediation. S. 86(3) amended by No. 16/2017 s. 44(4). (3) The Commission must arrange for each retail tenancy dispute referred in accordance with this section to be the subject of— (a) mediation by a mediator; or (b) another appropriate form of alternative dispute resolution by a suitably qualified person. (4) A party to a mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution may be represented by a legal practitioner but the mediator or person conducting the other form of alternative dispute resolution may, if he or she considers it appropriate to do so, meet with the party (alone or together with any other party) without their legal representative being present. (5) The costs of, and associated with, mediation by a mediator, or another form of alternative dispute resolution by a suitably qualified person (including the fees and expenses of the mediator or person conducting the other form of alternative dispute resolution) are to be determined by the mediator or that other person and paid by the parties in the proportions that they agree among themselves or, if they cannot agree, in equal shares. (6) A mediator or person conducting another form of alternative dispute resolution is not civilly or criminally liable in respect of the performance, in good faith, of the functions of a mediator or such a person under this Act.