This chapter is from “Online Dispute Resolution
Theory and Practice,” Mohamed Abdel Wahab, Ethan Katsh & Daniel Rainey ( Eds.), published, sold and distributed by Eleven International Publishing.
The Hague, Netherlands at: www.elevenpub.com.
The Internet is a powerful technology that enables fast communication, both internationally and locally, and changes behaviors that involve the use and processing of information. Cyberspace, as a consequence, has become a new realm of commerce and a market with various kinds of transactions using acronyms such as: C2C, B2C, B2B, C2B or M2B.
The Internet removes traditional barriers between “offerors” (producers, sellers, etc) and “offerees”
(clients, users, consumers.). Time, geographical distance and language are no longer obstacles to trade and, consequently, cross border disputes have also increased.
In this environment, courts have been losing effectiveness in handling the needs of parties because costs are too disproportionate and proceedings long and cumbersome. Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) mechanisms have emerged, therefore, as a natural response to this
international process with the aim of providing an effective way to overcome the existing gap.
The European Union Communication from the Commission on The Out-of-Court Settlement of Consumer Disputes of 1998
clarified the scope of challenges consumers face. In
brief, it recognized that there are three possible ways of improving access to justice:
(i) simplification and improvement of legal procedures,
(ii) improvement of communication
between professionals and consumers,
(iii) and the use of out-of-court procedures to settle
consumer disputes. Most importantly, it indicated that “far from being alternatives, these
three approaches are fully complementary”.
However, a fundamental difference distinguishes the first approach from the other two. While the first approach remains within
the traditional framework of the judicial settlement of disputes and aims to improve the
existing systems, the other two remove these disputes from the judicial arena wherever
possible. This approach can assist us in drawing the initial boundaries of ADR/ODR
methods.
The Wrestling Match For me, the phrase “tag-team” conjures up vivid pictures of a masked wrestler with his arm stretched far into the ring waiting to be tagged so he...
By Steven Cohen"No one walks away unscarred: The need for restorative justice in cases of juvenile rape." The recent Steubenville rape trial is truly a tragedy in every sense of the word,...
By William HymesWhen I became the Marin County family law judge this year, I expected to rule on child custody issues, disagreements about visitation, and disputes involving payment of child support. What...
By Lynn Duryee
