Clause 18

An action on a claim under section 4 must not be brought in a tribunal unless the action is accompanied by a valid certificate of mediation or a valid certificate of waiver of mediation (called in this section a certificate) issued by a prescribed person (called in this section a prescribed person).(2) A certificate —

is valid for a period of 2 years after the date of issue of the certificate or such other shorter period as may be specified in the certificate;

ceases to be valid when a mediation direction is subsequently issued under section 13M to the persons specified in the certificate; and

can be used to commence a claim under section 4 where the claimant or claimants and the respondent or respondents are specified in the certificate as persons to whom the mediation or waiver of mediation relates.(3) For the purposes of this section, regulations made under section 33 may —

prescribe the persons (or classes of persons) who may submit a mediation request relating to a specified or intended claim under section 4 on behalf of a claimant and the classes of claimants on whose behalf any such mediation request may be submitted;

prescribe the persons or class of persons who may issue a certificate;

provide for the circumstances in which a certificate may be issued or refused; and

provide for the review or correction of a certificate including a decision to refuse a certificate.(4) To avoid doubt, the prescribed person may refuse to issue a certificate.(5) The decision of the prescribed person in issuing or refusing to issue a certificate is final and is not subject to any appeal.(6) This section applies to an application by the Director‑General under section 17A as it applies to an action on a claim under section 4.”.