Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
The civil courts have certain advantages, eg:
- A legally qualified judge.
- The doctrine of judicial precedent will be applied by the judge.
- There will be a binding decision.
- Judgments can be enforced through the courts if necessary.
- There is an appeal system.
- Legal aid is available for those on a low income, for certain types of cases.
However, there are also many disadvantages, eg:
- The civil courts are expensive, slow, complicated and open to the public and press.
- The judge will not have technical expertise.
- Representation by lawyers is usually necessary.
- The system can be adversarial in nature, which could ruin relations between parties.
- The Court Service chooses the trial date.
- There is the risk that a party may lose the case.
Because of such disadvantages of the civil courts, alternative methods of dispute resolution (ADR) have been created and become popular. These are:
- Negotiation;
- Mediation (watch 12 videos about this);
- Conciliation (watch a video about this);
- Arbitration (ABTA Arbitration Scheme and also ACAS Arbitration Scheme); and
- Tribunals (visit the Tribunals Service to find out more).
A good starting point is this leaflet published by Legal Information Advice.