Dispute System Design An Overview Dispute System Design

Dispute System Design: An Overview

Dispute System Design • What is it? • How to think about it? • Analytic Framework • Example: ODR in the courts

Dispute System Design ¡One or more processes adopted to prevent, manage or resolve a stream of disputes connected to an organization or institution

Array of Design Contexts ¡Public and Community Justice ¡ Court ADR ¡ Claims Facilities ¡ Community [neighborhoods, restorative justice] ¡Conflict and the Organization ¡ Commercial: vendors/suppliers, regulators, consumers ¡ Employment; ombuds ¡International/Transnational ¡ States as Contracting Parties to Treaties; Investor-State ¡ Cross-boundary Commerce ¡ Transitional Justice

Analytic Framework ¡ GOALS ¡ What do the system’s decision makers seek to accomplish? ¡ Which types of conflicts does the system seek to address? ¡ STAKEHOLDERS ¡ Who are the stakeholders? ¡ What is their relative power? ¡ What are their interests, and how are their interests represented in the system? ¡ CONTEXT & CULTURE ¡ How does the context of the DSD affect its viability and success? ¡ What aspects of culture (organizational, social, national economic, or other) affect the working of the system? ¡ What are the norms for communication and conflict management?

Framework - continued ¡PROCESSES & STRUCTURE ¡Which processes are used to prevent, manage and resolve disputes? ¡If more than one process, are they linked or integrated? ¡What are the incentives and disincentives for using the system? ¡What is the system’s interaction with the formal legal system? ¡RESOURCES ¡What financial resources support the system? ¡What human resources support the system? ¡SUCCESS & ACCOUNTABILITY ¡How transparent is the system? ¡Does the system include monitoring, learning, and evaluation?

Example: Possible GOALS for Court Design ¡LAW ¡ Apply the law to resolution of filed complaints ¡ Enforce rights and compliance with the law ¡ Increase access to justice ¡ Promote usefulness of ADR to the public ¡EFFICIENCY ¡ Increase case management capacity ¡ Increase efficiency of case handling system (time & expense for court, counsel and the parties) ¡ Encourage early case preparation

¡PARTY PROCESS EXPERIENCE ¡ Present one’s case in public to a tribunal ¡ Provide flexible, tailored array of dispute resolution processes, including more participatory and interestdriven options ¡ Offer a less adversarial process ¡ Preserve/repair parties’ relationships ¡ Promote greater public satisfaction with the justice system

Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) ¡The use of information and communication technology to help parties prevent, manage, and resolve disputes -- including diagnosis, negotiation, mediation, arbitration, courts, algorithmic decision making…and more! ¡What are current examples? ¡ Ecommerce ¡ Public disputes ¡ Administrative tribunals ¡ Courts (e. g. , family, civil, landlord tenant, criminal) ¡ Cross-border: EU ODR Directive ¡ Smart contracts on the blockchain (crowd-sourced arbitration)

ODR Goals ¡To increase ¡ Access to justice ¡ User experience satisfaction ¡ Provider reputation ¡ Efficiency of time, money and information ¡ Technical capacity ¡ Transparency ¡ Delivery of fair and predictable outcomes ¡ Data collection for improved analysis & decision making ¡…

Power & Control ¡Who designs the system of process options responding to what goals? ¡ All parties? Stakeholders? ¡ One party? ¡ Third party? ¡ Regulatory sandbox for legal products & services… ¡Who selects process for given case? ¡ Disputant? ¡ Third party? ¡ Fourth party? [technology]