Alternative Dispute Resolution

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

ADR stands for Alternative Dispute Resolution. It is a process which helps parties under dispute to resolve their argument and come to agreement without filing any litigation. ADR has become popular among people and organizations over the years, despite facing many historic resistances from different parties and advocates. Courts in many European countries require that disputing parties first resort to some type of ADR before filing for litigation.

ADRs are becoming increasingly popular due to the fact that they generally require less time to solve disputes, as traditional law courts are often overloaded with cases, thus taking longer for any one case to be resolved. Saving time also means saving money. ADR also helps to maintain confidentiality of the dispute and the identities of individuals and organizations involved. Moreover, the parties can select mediators or arbitrators of their choice and preference. ADRs are controlled by the American Arbitration Association (AAA), which provides services to parties who wish to resolve their conflict through ADR.

ADR is used by gTLD-MoU for resolving disputes related to trademark, domain names and other such issues. They normally apply mediation and optionally arbitration as per the requirements of the applicant at the time of domain name registration and Administrative Domain Name Challenge Panels (ACPs).

Types of ADR

ADR is categorized into two types, which have been successfully tried and tested over the years.

Mediation: In this method there is a mediator who interacts with the parties involved and tries to resolve the dispute. The role of the mediator is to listen to the arguments of all the parties and suggest solutions which are beneficial enough for all involved. A mediator however cannot impose his suggestions or opinion on the disputed parties. It is the sole decision of the parties to take the appropriate steps for resolving the dispute.

Arbitration: This type of alternative is used only when the reason behind dispute is something severe and not any misunderstanding and the mediation procedure has failed to solve the dispute satisfactorily. In such cases the disputed parties can approach an arbitrator. The proceedings of the Arbitrations are similar to that of the court but they are not publicized and thus there is no media attention. The arbitrators go through the documents and credentials of both the parties which can be represented by their attorneys and give a quick decision. The decision served by the arbitrator has to be accepted by both the parties.

Advantages of ADR

• Very cheap and cost effective compared to the litigation process. Some of the schemes may be offered for free.

• ADR is a fast process; cases can be solved within a few weeks or sometimes even in a few days.

• Privacy is maintained, unlike the litigations which are open to public and media the proceedings in ADR are kept private and confidential and thus the reputations are not affected of any parties involved.

• The process is simple and can be used even for smaller disputes. Middle class professional complainants can benefit from such Alternatives which can provide justice quickly and at cheaper costs.

Disadvantages of ADR

• The resolution cannot be guaranteed; this means the parties can prefer ADR, invest some money and time but still be unsatisfied with the final result and may have to resort to litigations.

• They are not preferred for all types of disputes or arguments, for instance there can be a deliberate error or misconduct, crime and so on. Such disputes cannot be handled with ADR.

References

sixthformlaw.info

en.wikipedia.org

www.suite101.com