Time for Another Big Bang in Alternative Dispute Resolution – The World Needs a Global Pound Conference
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ADR is sleepwalking globally. It needs to be shaken out of its slumber. There is a way to do it. A truly Global Pound Conference!
Mediation is established as part of its dispute resolution structure in a few countries like the U.S., Canada, the Netherlands, Singapore and the U.K., but even in these countries the use of mediation is not endemic and there is a huge opportunity for expansion and more effective use of the process. An uncomfortably high proportion of litigation and arbitration lawyers favor mediation only at the end of a dispute’s life cycle or, in common law countries, after extensive discovery is completed, protecting against what ADR means to them:Alarming Drop in Revenue. Mediation is almost never used in Investor-State cases, international trade disputes, class actions or other cross-border commercial, community and family disputes, and is imperfectly applied in world peace issues. Mediation is available under international arbitration rules, but rarely triggered.
Many countries and their courts have adopted rules supporting mediation but there is a gap between adoption and implementation. Most mediation service providers survive by training, often funded by governmental bodies advancing opportunities for access to justice, but there is little evidence that many trainees mature into mediators. As a result, global companies seek dispute resolution mechanisms worldwide to manage their legal risks and costs, but outside the countries mentioned above often cannot find credible structures supporting mediation, so are faced with creating often sub-optimal solutions on a country-by-country basis.
Another factor impacting the growth of mediation is that there are no widely-accepted mediation quality standards. Although there are codes of professional conduct for mediation, there are few disciplinary processes to apply and enforce them. These factors have resulted in stagnation that has robbed mediation of inspiration and momentum. There needs to be convincing global leadership to remove the defects and propel the use of mediation.
Read original articleTags: Alternative Dispute Resolution, Dispute Resolution, Global Pound Conference ADR, mediation service, Pound Conference
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