Adv. Rajesh, Chief
Coordinator, SoftSettle Support
In recent years, internet based systems have arisen that guide parties
through a settlement process. The system for performing dispute resolution that
enables parties to present their issues to a customized decision maker and
receive a decision in short amount of time at a reasonable price or without any
price i.e free of cost. Providing such a dispute resolution that operates over
the internet with the online outfits like virtual mediation or automated
negotiation could be evaluated as the prime or overriding method for dispute
resolution.
Further employing online dispute resolution or ODR would likely to
enhance efficiency so far as the communication in between the parties without
having to schedule face-to-face meetings which would eat time as well as
expenses. The domain of ODR is much broader. It offers hope for
curing some of the deep-rooted problems of traditional dispute resolution
arenas. Typically, ODR protagonists focus on ODR potential for enhancing
efficiency in dispute resolution, which is of course a real and substantial
advantage. The platforms like Soft
Settle and Mediator Affair introduce technology as an incentive to pursue the
added efficiency in respect of case management system and resolution procedure.
Both courts and ADR have
been slow to adapt to new technologies. ODR specifically has been viewed as a
niche area, suitable for disputes that result from online activity for which
there are no effective face-to-face dispute resolution avenues. For one, ODR
can (and in some cases already is) employed even where traditional dispute
resolution processes are available and where the dispute is not related to
online activity. But ODR is also relevant to a wide spectrum of disputes on
another level. It offers hope for curing some of the deep-rooted problems of
traditional dispute resolution arenas. ODR, however, can also offer important
lessons to other, more traditional mechanisms for dispute resolution in terms
of enhancing accountability and learning. This happens both when ODR is
employed for the resolution of disputes, due to its qualities of automatic
documentation in digital format, but also indirectly, where ODR serves as a
model for dispute system design. The ways in which data collection and analysis
in ODR have helped promote quality control and improvement can induce those
offering traditional dispute processes to rethink their practices and policies.
As privatization increases and both ADR and courts face a legitimacy crisis,
ODR can help strengthen traditional means for dispute resolution both directly
(by incorporating ODR as another option alongside traditional methods) and
indirectly, inspiring new ideas in the design and improvement of courts and ADR
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