Gunavathi Subramaniam

MEDIATION EMPANELMENT

• Mediator Malaysian International Mediation Centre (MIMC) formerly known as Malaysian Mediation Centre (MMC);
• Mediator Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC);
• Mediator Pusat Mediasi Covid-19 (PMC-19) (Covid-19 Mediation Centre) formed by the Government of Malaysia from November 11, 2020 until October 2022; 
• Mediation Trainer since 2001 to date

Gunavathi was admitted to the High Court of Malaya as an advocate and solicitor in 1987. Her main areas of practice encompass civil and commercial litigation including dispute resolution, strata management, construction, banking and family law. Gunavathi specialises in alternative dispute resolution and is the pioneer mediator in Malaysia with more than 25 years of experience in alternative dispute resolution methods including negotiation, mediation, and arbitration. Gunavathi was responsible for drafting the Mediation Rules, Code of Conduct, Accreditation Guidelines and the Mediation Act for the Malaysian Mediation Centre and deliberated on the Mediation Act 2012 with the Attorney General’s office. Her spearheading the inaugural mediation skills training programme in the country further evidences Gunavathi’s passion for mediation. She has brought her energies to bear by promoting mediation as a premier technique for dispute resolution internationally and in Malaysia. She has thus far, trained more than 800 mediators including a broad spectrum of professionals including Judges of the High Court of Malaya, Judges of the High Court of Sabah & Sarawak and members of the legal and judicial service. She has also trained judges from ASEAN countries, lawyers, doctors, quantity surveyors, engineers, architects, accountants and postgraduate students. For the past three decades, Gunavathi has lectured at the Faculty of Law, University Malaya, the  country’s premier University for the Master in Laws programme in Alternative Dispute Resolution. She has excelled at educating, guiding and supporting her students in embracing mediation as a primary platform for dispute resolution. Over the years, she has successfully
mediated several family, civil and commercial, disputes in Kuala Lumpur including divorce, child custody and maintenance, construction, inter-religious, insurance, contract, landlord and tenant, employment and shareholders disputes. Gunavathi is a much sought after speaker who has delivered papers at national and international conferences and webinars. Gunavathi is also an active member of an international mediation organization, ‘Mediators’ Global Group’ and has participated as an expert in providing mediation training to the Swiss Chinese Law Association. In 2023, Gunavathi was appointed by the Bahagian Hal Ehwal Undang-Undang (BHEUU) as a member of the Working Committee to ratify the Singapore Convention on Mediation and to amend the Mediation Act 2012.