The government is willing to make a "fair settlement" to the prisoner who was caned three more strokes than he was sentenced to, said the lawyer representing his family.

Mr Joseph Chen, acting for Dickson Tan Yong Wen, 20, who was caned eight strokes instead of five because of an error in administration by the authorities, said progress was made at a mediation session this morning to settle the compensation being sought by Tan's family.

"The parties made progress and the mediation has been adjourned to another date," he told AsiaOne.

"The government is willing to work towards a fair settlement."

Asked what would be a "fair settlement" for his client, Mr Chen said he was not at liberty to discuss the details because a gag order has been imposed on the case.

Mr Tan's mother, Madam Ho Gee Lin, 52, who initially asked for $150,000 in compensation, has indicated that she is willing to settle for $300,000, or a "reasonable amount". But, if a settlement could not be reached, she said she would take the case to court and seek $3 million in punitive damages. If she is awarded the $3 million, the family would donate $2.7 million to charity.

Madam Ho was reported in the media as saying that "the $300,000 is all I really want to take care of my son."

Her son had been sentenced to nine months' jail and five strokes of the cane for abetting an illegal moneylender to harass a debtor. He was caned eight times on March 29 after a court clerk wrongly recorded the sentence on a document.

The government has said it regrets the error and has taken steps to ensure that the mistake will not happen again.

This morning's mediation was the first in settling the compensation issue. The government was represented by Mr Ian Leong, a state counsel from the Attorney-General's Chambers.

Mr Chen said that he was happy with the progress made.

Asked on the possibility of taking the case to court, he said: "Given the government's willingness to settle a fair amount, the recourse to court ligitaiton is rather unlikely."

The date of the next mediation has not been fixed but both sides hope to reach a settlement by then.