Costs

The cost of the dispute settlement process

Referral fee – R 3950.00
The referring party pays the referral fee. Once the referral has been received by the African Commercial Dispute Settlement Centre (ACDSC), the referring party will receive an email confirming the receipt of referral. Within two business days the referring party will be contacted and provided with payment information. As soon as the payment has been received the Case Management Officer (CMO) will arrange the date of the conciliation meeting with both parties.

The fee of R3950.00 (VAT inclusive) covers the referral, the administration process, the venue, the 2 hour conciliation meeting and the fee of the mediator. No additional fees will be charged.

The referral fee becomes part of the issues discussed in the conciliation meeting. However, it is the responsibility of the referring party to table it as part of the discussions. It will then be made part of the settlement agreement.

Only if the matter is not finalised and the matter is set down for a further step in the process (mediation or arbitration), will the parties incur further costs. The cost involved in the further step in the process is explained below and will be determined before the finalisation of the conciliation meeting. Therefore the parties are in a position to budget for the process without the fear of hidden costs being charged.

Mediation or Arbitration – R 3000.00 plus the fee of the mediator or arbitrator
The cost of the mediation process or the arbitration process consists of two amounts.

Administrative and venue fee – R 3000.00 (VAT inclusive). This fee covers the management of the case, receipt and distribution of case related documents, notices, reminders and the venue.
Mediator/Arbitrator fee – this fee will be determined by the seniority and the level of expertise of the mediator/arbitrator. The fee is for a full day and can range between R 3 500.00 to R 20 000.00 (VAT inclusive). The fee includes the preparation and the drafting of the settlement agreement or the award at the end of the process.

All fees are payable in advance.

Cancellation fees and refunds

If, for whatever reason, the conciliation is cancelled or cannot take place, the referring party will be refunded with 50% of the referral fee.

Once the matter is set down for mediation or arbitration and the meeting is cancelled the refund will depend on;