Alternative Dispute Resolution II

Please note this module is not running in 2023/24.

The course examines alternative dispute resolution (ADR) - principally mediation - from a comparative perspective and encourages students to develop historical and cross-cultural perspectives on its practice. The course considers jurisprudential dimensions of the issues alongside insights from the perspective of legal sociology.

This second (half unit) builds on a more practical experience of mediation by examining specific areas of dispute resolution in greater depth and more critically (e.g. civil, family, international, and regional contexts). The course covers critiques of informalism and their relevance to civil justice reform and contemporary debates in ADR including the ethical framework in which mediation occurs, the limits of confidentiality and mandatory mediation.

This unit provides a critical and regional perspective on how these issues are approached in different jurisdictions. Ethical dilemmas will be approached by way of role plays and simulations.

Workload

• Weekly 2-hour seminar

Scope and syllabus

• Morphology of conflict
• ADR in a political context – truth and reconciliation processes
• Critiques and perspectives of ADR
• Mediation in the shadow of the law
• Mediation ethics and role play
• Hybrid processes and the ADR spectrum
• Regional context china and middle east
• Regional context independent study
• Multi party dynamics, role play and discussion
• Conclusion ‘one genus and many species’

Method of assessment

• Essay: 100% (3000 words)

Suggested reading

• Simon Roberts and Michael Palmer, Dispute Processes, ADR and the Primary Forms of Decision-making, (2005) 2nd Ed, Cambridge University Press,
• Henry Brown and Arthur Marriott, ADR: Principles and Practice, (2011) 3rd Edition, Sweet & Maxwell

Disclaimer

Important notice regarding changes to programmes and modules.