4. THE NORDIC ADR SYSTEMS

Online Dispute Resolution Practical examples of Alternative Dispute Resolution in the US and EU - a handbook for best practice today and tomorrow A Promise Unfulfilled and What to Do About It - Complaint Handling Now Marc Grainer; Scott Broetzmann, David Beinhacker, and Richard Grainer Online Dispute Resolution - Designing Systems for Effective Dispute Settlement - a US practitioner perspective Jo DeMars Online Dispute Resolution for Business - Embedding Online Dispute Resolution in the Civil Justice System Pablo Cortes Consumer Trust and Business Benefits with ODR Immaculada Barral-Vials Where Law, Technology, Theory and Practice Overlap: Enforcement Mechanisms and System Design Riika Koulu The Experience of Combining Traditional Face to Face Dispute Resolution Mediation with an Online Dispute Resolution Tool - Benefits and Challenges Amy Koltz Online Dispute Resolution Decision Making - A NetNeutrals Practitioner's View Katherine G. Newcomer One Man's View of One Country - ADR & ODR and the future of complaint management in the UK Adrian Lawes

The study identifies barriers to the use of ADR schemes by consumers in the EU, especially in cross-border cases. It assesses other legislation relevant for consumer redress: the European Small Claims Procedure, the Injunctions Directive and the Mediation Directive. Finally, it examines ways to improve the effectiveness of cross-border ADR and the usefulness of a European legal instrument.

Despite the growing national and international regulatory framework to support cross-border mediation, the use of such mediation appears to remain stubbornly low. This book focuses in particular on the European Union’s (EU’s) continued efforts to encourage the use of cross-border mediation and examines why such efforts have had a limited impact. It does so by drawing on rare, and at times surprising, detailed insights from in-house counsel of multinational companies regarding their use of EU cross-border commercial mediation. By viewing mediation through the lens of disputants, new and important findings regarding why disputants do, and do not, use cross-border mediation have emerged. While these findings are of primary relevance to EU policy and practice, they have implications far beyond the EU context at a time of increasing international interest in cross-border mediation. The analysis of the insights provided by the disputants reveals, for example: the prominent role played by negotiation as a cross-border dispute resolution process; that negotiation is a key comparator for disputants when considering whether to use mediation; how the EU’s continued focus on understanding and presenting mediation as an alternative to litigation has resulted in measures which are insufficient to address fully the barriers to the use of mediation; intriguing barriers to the use of mediation which arise from the association which disputants draw between mediation and negotiation; how the relationship which disputants draw between mediation and negotiation paradoxically raises both opportunities for, and obstacles to, the increased use of mediation; and what disputants need in order to increase their use of cross-border mediation. The qualitative nature (by way of interviews) of the research conducted for this book has enabled the identification of nuanced and novel findings regarding mediation’s position and potential in cross-border dispute resolution. These findings, together with a detailed examination of the EU Directive on Certain Aspects of Mediation in Civil and Commercial Matters and the EU’s continued initiatives to foster the use of mediation, form the foundation upon which this book’s recommendations are built. Changing the frame to view the use of mediation through the disputants’ perspective, as this book does, provides the opportunity for the EU to promote cross-border mediation in a way which resonates more deeply with disputants and responds more fully to their concerns and needs. This thought-provoking book will be of interest not only to European and national bodies seeking to promote the use of mediation but clearly also to dispute resolution academics, in-house counsel, and of course mediators and dispute resolution practitioners in general.

The study identifies barriers to the use of ADR schemes by consumers in the EU, especially in cross-border cases. It assesses other legislation relevant for consumer redress: the European Small Claims Procedure, the Injunctions Directive and the Mediation Directive. Finally, it examines ways to improve the effectiveness of cross-border ADR and the usefulness of a European legal instrument.

Of the ODR movement and review of the relevant literature / Marta Poblet -- Definitions of online dispute resolution / Simon Thomson & Avrom Sherr -- ODR and trans-border disputes / Przemysław Pecherzewski & Piotr Rodziewicz -- EU regulation on ODR : an introduction and some thoughts / Graham Ross -- Normative and positive developments in the field of online dispute resolution : the European Union level / Bilyana Gyaurova-Wegertseder -- What dispute resolution tasks to support with ODR, and how to support them / Jelle van Veenen -- Measuring the costs of ODR / Martin Gramatikov -- Quality of ODR procedures / Laura Klaming -- Dimension of the quality of the outcome of dispute resolution processes / Martin Gramatikov & Robert Porter.

For many businesses, mediation is seen as a swifter and cost-effective alternative to conventional forms of dispute resolution. Although its acceptance by policymakers in Europe has been slow, the recent development by various EU Member States of legal and institutional frameworks for commercial mediation have been complemented by a European framework for cross-border civil and commercial mediation, the EU Directive on Certain Aspects of Mediation in Civil and Commercial Matters. This extraordinary book, the first thorough analysis of the current state of commercial mediation practice in Europe, is based on face-to-face interviews and responses to questionnaires involving the participation of 25 renowned European mediators, with complementary contributions by 20 business people who have used mediation extensively. Among the areas of interest that arise are the following: typical areas of application of commercial mediation; types of disputes where commercial mediation is most beneficial; reasons why companies opt for mediation; dispute stages at which mediation may be most useful; length of the mediation process; costs of the process; likely causes of the considerable guardedness of enterprises against mediation; the role lawyers play as gatekeepers; the power factor and other imbalances; the role of provider agencies; and various approaches to mediation style. Participants have been chosen from Austria, Germany, France, England, Scotland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland, with the aim of including all the dominant European legal traditions. There are numerous case studies, including the role of mediation in such major projects as the Vienna Airport, the Eurotunnel, and the Øresund link bridge. The book contributes to the further professionalism of ADR in Europe by providing accurate information on the functionality of the process and its attainable results. In addition to describing the professional performance of European mediators working in the world of business, the author’s analysis crystallizes the processes, models, and strategies that characterize the practice of commercial mediation in Europe. With this book potential clients, practicing mediators, lawmakers, and other decisionmakers can base their actions on reliable scientific findings proven by practical experience.