§10004. Privilege against disclosure; admissibility; discovery

1.__Privileged unless waived or precluded. Except as otherwise provided in section 10006, a mediation communication is privileged as provided in subsection 2 and is not subject to discovery or admissible in evidence in a proceeding unless waived or precluded as provided by section 10005.

2.__Privileges. In a proceeding, the following privileges apply.

A.__A mediation party may refuse to disclose, and may prevent any other person from disclosing, a mediation communication.

B.__A mediator may refuse to disclose a mediation communication and may prevent any other person from disclosing a mediation communication of the mediator.

C.__A nonparty participant may refuse to disclose, and may prevent any other person from disclosing, a mediation communication of the nonparty participant.

3.__Admissibility; discovery.__Evidence or information that is otherwise admissible or subject to discovery does not become inadmissible or protected from discovery solely by reason of its disclosure or use in a mediation.

REPORTER'S NOTES

1. In general.

Sections 4 through 6 set forth the Uniform Mediation Act's general structure for protecting the confidentiality of mediation communications against disclosure in later legal proceedings. Section 4 sets forth the evidentiary privilege, which provides that disclosure of mediation communications generally cannot be compelled in designated proceedings or discovery and results in the exclusion of these communications from evidence and from discovery if requested by any party or, for certain communications, by a mediator or nonparty participant as well, unless within an exception delineated in Section 6 applies or the privilege is waived under the provisions of Section 5. It further delineates the fora in which the privilege may be asserted. The term "proceeding" is defined in Section 2(7). The provisions of Sections 4-6 may not be expanded by the agreement of the parties,