Harvesting Data to Shape the Future of International Dispute Resolution
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Among the early words of wisdom expressed by Sherlock Holmes in the first of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s 56 novels, A Scandal in Bohemia in 1891, was this classic line: “I never guess. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.”
And so it is with dispute resolution. There is a paucity of reliable statistics out there to enable users of dispute resolution services, as well as advisers, providers, educators, adjudicators and policymakers, to understand how best to prepare and steer ourselves for the future. And even if we take the few nuggets of mediation data that have been generated in recent years (1), the field is not proficient at inter-communication: arbitrators don’t liaise enough with mediators (and vice-versa), users are rarely heard, providers compete for space and legislators get confusing signals. It’s incoherent and ineffective.
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