scholarly journals Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Cases: Are Divergences an Obstacle to Effective Access to Justice?

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 39-74
Author(s):  
Urša Jeretina ◽  
Alan Uzelac
Keyword(s):  
Dispute Resolution ◽  
Alternative Dispute Resolution ◽  
Consumer Satisfaction ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Online Dispute Resolution ◽  
Eu Directive ◽  
The Eu

Traditional court proceedings do not always offer practical and cost-appropriate way of resolving consumer disputes. Some authors consider that, in disputes between consumers and businesses, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is more effective, faster and cheaper. Insofar, consumer ADR (CADR) is seen as a useful instrument that helps consumers realize their right of access to justice. It is argued that the CADR is a flexible and faster method of enforcement of consumers’ rights, and that CADR systems provide valuable information on the needs of applicants, while preserving confidentiality and increasing consumer satisfaction. However, while praised in theory, the CADR in real life has not reached the desired levels. It seems that both sides, businesses and consumers, lack awareness of ADR schemes and their benefits. In this paper we analyze the concept of CADR through compensatory collective redress, and explore whether current legal initiatives of the European Union (EU) are ultimately contributing to increasing consumer confidence in the internal market of the EU Member States. Special attention is paid to different barriers for the development of various ADR schemes. They are reflected not only in different ADR schemes, but also in the evaluation methods used to measure efficiency of the use of the (C)ADR. The EU Directive on Consumer ADR and Regulation on Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) have attempted to set flexible rules that would assure quality of dispute resolution between entities in the EU. However, the EU initiatives so far leave many questions unanswered, in particulars the questions about supervision and financing of consumer ADR schemes, as well as the issues regarding purely internal harmonization of CADR practices. An example for considerable divergences are CADR proceedings in the neighboring Western Balkan states, such as Slovenia and Croatia.

scholarly journals The evolution of alternative dispute resolution and online dispute resolution in the European Un

CES Derecho ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-17
Author(s):  
Shamaise Peters
Keyword(s):  
Dispute Resolution ◽  
Alternative Dispute Resolution ◽  
Consumer Trust ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Online Dispute Resolution ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Resolution System ◽  
Dispute Resolution System ◽  
The Eu

The evolution of Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) as an augmentation from Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) may lead to an authentic paradigm shift in the way disputes are handled beyond the traditional court systems. To assess state of the art and convey awareness, this paper explores the regulatory landscape of the European Union (EU) using the United Kingdom and Estonia to illustrate the key advancements and shortcomings of the supranational strategy. It discusses the relationships between ADR capabilities and its productive use in ODR, the ODR deployment and adoption, and the consequences that may arise if dispute resolution technologies leapfrog. The paper also speaks of automation and suggests the need to build integrative models into Artificial Intelligence (AI) - powered ODR platforms. It is apparent that the early challenges in the development of the ADR culture in the EU are still unresolved, affecting the proper integration of ADR principles and ODR technologies. A more effective coupling could be expected to smooth digital trade interactions by increasing access to justice and consumer trust in the redress capacities of the Dispute Resolution System (DRS) as a whole. 

scholarly journals Possibilities of workplace mediation in the European Union

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3-4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aron Balogh
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Dispute Resolution ◽  
Alternative Dispute Resolution ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
The United States ◽  
Grey Zone ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Online Dispute Resolution ◽  
The Eu

The world of labor market and industrial relations is a field where conflicts and disputes are inevitable characteristics of the operation, regardless of the form of employment. Also, labor disputes appear both from an individual aspect, where the disputants are the employer and the employee, and in a collective respect, where the disputes take place between the employer(s) and the collective of the workers, typically represented by an employee organization (union) or a works council.  When a conflict or a dispute cannot be resolved through negotiation, the law offers dispute resolution mechanisms for the participants. Therefore, several legal mechanisms have been evolved in order to resolve disputes, starting from the classical form of litigation, where a court determines the end of the dispute by its judgement, and other alternative forms of dispute resolution, such as arbitration, mediation and conciliation, where the parties can reach a decision or a settlement outside of the judicial system of the state. EU Member States have introduced various legislative rules for labor dispute resolution covering all manner of individual and collective disputes. ADR schemes are also supported by the ILO, as the ILO Recommendation No. 92 (1951) suggests that voluntary conciliation should be made available to assist in the prevention and settlement of industrial disputes between employers and workers. Within the aegis of the European Union, several instruments have emerged with the attempt to elaborate the basic principles for the operation of ADR schemes in the context of cases between businesses and consumers. The Directive 2013/11/EU on alternative dispute resolution for consumer disputes (the “ADR Directive”) and Regulation (EU) No 524/2013 on online dispute resolution for consumer disputes (the “ODR Regulation”) ensured that consumers could turn to quality alternative dispute resolution entities for all kinds of contractual disputes with traders, and established an EU-wide online platform for consumer disputes that arise from online transactions with traders. Workplace mediation is widely and successfully utilized in the USA for solely employment purposes both in the private and the public sector. Also, in the United States is a “employment at will” doctrine prevails, that basically means – unless stipulated to the contrary by the parties – the employment relationship can be terminated with immediate effect without any justification (just cause), thus workers do not have access to legal remedies as in the EU where the statutory laws provide a broad protection against arbitrary or unjust termination. Mediation, however, provide an effective solution for employees and workers, even if situated outside the protective scope of labor law. While the role of customer/consumer ADR and mediation is increasing throughout the whole European Union, workplace and employment mediation still constitutes a “grey zone”.  In many of the legal instruments of the EU and also in several products of the national legislations, consumers and workers are treated with the same legal awareness, thus protective laws compensate their weaker position in their legal relationships, but as far as the utilization and access of dispute resolution schemes are concerned, a significant but not always reasonable differentiation can be detected. Also, while mediation is an available tool for individual employment matters, still has not been utilized considerably, and remained an instrument only to resolve mostly collective conflicts. Therefore, the aim of this paper to present various styles of mediations from a comparative perspective, to express their biggest advantages and to highlight the areas where mediation could be more suitable to use in the context of the individual disputes of the workplace.

Consumer “Access to Justice” in EU in Low-Value Cross-Border Disputes and the Role of Online Dispute Resolution

2017 ◽  
pp. 191-208
Author(s):  
Inmaculada Barral-Viñals
Keyword(s):  
Dispute Resolution ◽  
Alternative Dispute Resolution ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Consumer Contract ◽  
Online Dispute Resolution ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Consumer Access ◽  
The Eu

This paper examines consumer access to justice in the EU by analysing how Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) can improve this access, especially in the case of low-value cross-border disputes, which constitute the majority of consumer contract complaints. The discussion is based on a widened concept of open justice that not only seeks to provide greater transparency, but also greater participation and collaboration as a means to improve consumer access to justice. The approach deals with the subjective and objective obstacles to accessing justice and the role of participatory justice. Finally, the paper examines the decisions taken by the EU in its attempt to foster both ADRs and ODRs for consumer disputes and determines which obstacles have been eliminated in promoting access to justice.

scholarly journals Alternative dispute resolution procedures using information technologies: legal regulation in the European Union and the USA

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (26) ◽  
pp. 60-67
Author(s):  
Minas Arakelian ◽  
Olga Ivanchenko ◽  
Oleg Todoshchak
Keyword(s):  
Dispute Resolution ◽  
Alternative Dispute Resolution ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Online Dispute Resolution ◽  
Foreign Countries ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Use Of The Internet

The article is devoted to the research of legal issues of protection of the violated rights, determination of the effectiveness of the mechanism of ensuring the rights, investigation of alternative ways of protection of rights, analysis of the functioning of ODR platforms and prospects of their functioning. The article notes that with the widespread use of the Internet, legal institutions are changing, especially with regard to dispute resolution. The emergence of e-commerce has led to the emergence of online dispute resolution platforms that are already in use on all continents. The e-commerce market in Ukraine and in the world is gaining momentum, so Ukraine's desire for closer interaction with EU Member States and integration into the common market necessitates a detailed study of the experience of the EU and foreign countries to introduce the most effective and advanced mechanisms for securing the rights of e-commerce participants. The study concludes that it is advisable to use online dispute resolution (ODR) procedures, which are a cross-border alternative dispute resolution, as a fast and versatile way to resolve disputes, as a substitute for the ineffective existing forms of IPR protection. Based on the analysis of the existence of alternative dispute resolution methods, it is established that online dispute resolution due to its specific legal nature is an independent way of resolving disputes.

Public participation in decisions on specific activities in environmental matters in Croatia

elni Review ◽  
2012 ◽  
pp. 13-19
Author(s):  
Lana Ofak
Keyword(s):  
Public Participation ◽  
Positive Outcome ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Aarhus Convention ◽  
Specific Activities ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Eu

Croatia finished accession negotiations with the EU in June 2011. The Accession Treaty was signed on 9 December 2011. The EU accession referendum in Croatia was held in January 2012 with a positive outcome. 66.27% of Croatian citizens voted in favour of Croatian accession to the European Union and 33.13% of votes were against the accession. Following ratification of the Accession Treaty by the 27 EU member states, accession of Croatia to the EU is expected to take place on 1 July 2013. In the 2011 Progress Report, European Commission stated that there has been progress in the area of environment. Overall, Croatia’s environmentorientated preparations are nearing completion in terms of both alignment and implementation of the relevant legislation. However, implementation of the horizontal acquis, and in particular effective public participation and access to justice in environmental matters, need to be improved. The purpose of this article is twofold. Firstly, it provides a general overview of the legal framework for public participation in decisions on specific activities in Croatia, which is intended to implement provisions of Art. 6 of the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (hereinafter: the Aarhus Convention or Convention). Implementation of Art. 7 and 8 of the Aarhus Convention are not discussed. Secondly, specific problems in exercising the right to participate in environmental impact assessment procedures in Croatia are analysed. It is shown that there are cases of non-compliance with the provisions of Art. 6 of the Aarhus Convention.

Resolution 2300 (Council of Eur. Parl. Assembly)

2020 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 487-494
Author(s):  
David Lewis
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
Member States ◽  
National Legislation ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Eu Directive ◽  
The Eu

This Resolution was adopted in October 2019 following a report of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights. It has to be seen in the context of previous Council of Europe activity on this topic as well as the European Union (EU) Directive on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law. The content of the EU Directive was agreed earlier in 2019 and EU Member States are obliged to transpose it into national legislation by December 2021.

Encouragement of mediation in England and Wales has been futile: is there now a role for online dispute resolution in settling low-value claims?

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-196
Author(s):  
Sue Prince
Keyword(s):  
Dispute Resolution ◽  
Alternative Dispute Resolution ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Online Dispute Resolution ◽  
The Core ◽  
Current Reform ◽  
Improve Access ◽  
Real Chance

AbstractIn England and Wales, the judiciary, Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunal Services (HMCTS) and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) have embarked on an ambitious reform whose aims are to radically transform and restructure court services and introduce digital justice for the overall purpose of improving access to justice in relation to the resolution of disputes. The reality in the courts of England and Wales is that the current reform means automation of processes. Digital transformation offers a real chance to improve access to justice particularly for low-value claims where a simplified process is more proportionate to the value of the dispute. This paper argues therefore that, for everyday low-value civil disputes, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) processes should be at the core of any design. In addition, fashioning new means to deliver access to justice should not just be about increasing government efficiency, but also about using technology to design and create innovative, new, agile and ‘user-centric’ pathways.

A new regulatory framework for extra-judicial consumer redress: where we are and how to move forward

Legal Studies ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo Cortés
Keyword(s):  
Dispute Resolution ◽  
Alternative Dispute Resolution ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Third Parties ◽  
Regulatory Framework ◽  
Online Dispute Resolution ◽  
Minimum Standards ◽  
Voluntary Compliance ◽  
Primary Contribution ◽  
The Eu

This paper examines the new legal framework on consumer Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in the EU. Its primary contribution lies in identifying that harmonising the complaint submission in a pan-European Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) platform, and directing parties to nationally approved ADR entities that comply with minimum standards, will not fulfil the potential of an extra-judicial consumer redress system. This paper proposes key functions that the ODR platform should incorporate if it is to provide effective redress. This paper also argues that a successful ODR platform should include built-in incentives that encourage parties to: (i) participate in approved ADR processes; (ii) settle complaints with little or no intervention from neutral third parties; and (iii) ensure voluntary compliance with final outcomes.

Online Dispute Resolution for Consumers in Portugal and in the European Union

2016 ◽  
pp. 128-146
Author(s):  
Fernando Viana ◽  
Francisco Pacheco Andrade
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Conflict Resolution ◽  
Dispute Resolution ◽  
Information Society ◽  
State Courts ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Level ◽  
Online Dispute Resolution ◽  
Administration Of Justice

Administration of Justice became complex in Consumers and Information Society. It is necessary to look for new solutions for the increasing situations of consumer's litigation. Traditional State Courts are not a solution due to their slow, heavy and costly ways of functioning. The way is clearly open for Arbitration Centers based in friendly mechanisms such as mediation, concilitation and arbitration. Regulation EU nr. 524/2013 of European Parliament and Council of the 21st of May on online consumer's conflict resolution has as aim the creation of a conflict resolution platform at european level. We propose to analyze the Regulation and its implications and to show the functioning of the platform that is being developped and that should be available for both for consumers and corporations from 9th January 2016 on. It will be analyzed the new requirements of access to Justice in the field of Consumer's conflicts, the new ADR Directive and the regulation on ODR in order to meet the challenges brought along by the introduction of the new platform for conflict resolution.

Alternative Dispute Resolution in Civil and Commercial Matters in the EU

2016 ◽  
pp. 111-127
Author(s):  
Marco Carvalho Gonçalves
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Dispute Resolution ◽  
Comparative Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Effective Implementation ◽  
Initial Approach ◽  
Alternative Means ◽  
The Eu

This chapter seeks to analyze the implementation and integration of alternative means of dispute resolution in the European Union. Thus, from an initial approach to the various alternative means of dispute resolution, with particular emphasis on negotiation, conciliation, mediation and arbitration, will be held a comparative law analysis of the different legislative solutions adopted by the major EU Member States, allowing to determinate the degree of implementation and development of alternative means of dispute resolution in those Member States. Finally, there will be an analysis of the main legislative instruments adopted by the European institutions with a view to creating and developing alternative means of dispute resolution in Europe, indicating, in the end, some solutions and recommendations that are adequate having a view to effective implementation of alternative justice in the European Union.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document