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• and to ensure that the case proceeds quickly and efficiently.
Technology should be used wherever appropriate. As manyaspects of the case as possible
should be dealt with on the same occasion and the case may be dealt with without the parties having to
attend the court. Procedural errors are not to invalidate any part of the proceedings unless the court
exercises its discretion to order that they should. Furthermore, accidental errors or omissions can be
corrected at any time and the court may do this on its own initiative.
The parties should consider whether some form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) would
be more suitable than litigation, and if so, endeavor to agree which form to adopt. Both the claimant
and the defendant may be required by the Court to provide evidence that alternative means of resolving
their dispute were considered. The Courts take the view that litigation should be a last resort, and that;
claims should not be issued prematurely when a settlement is still actively being explored. Among the
most frequently used ADR methods one should mention the following:
arbitration, where an independent, impartial third party hears both parties to a dispute and
makes a decision to resolve it. However, arbitration
is private rather than public, and some
forms of arbitration are decided on the basis of documents only. In most cases, the arbitrator's
decision is binding on both parties.
mediation, where the disputants, not the mediator, decide the terms of the agreement. The
mediator's role, however, is to check carefully that the parties are able to do what they agree to
do. Mediation is now the most popular form of alternative dispute resolution in the UK and
Europe as it offers solutions beyond those that a court could ordinarily impose. It is increas-
ingly used
in commercial, personal injury and clinical negligence cases.
conciliation involves an impartial third party helping the parties to resolve their problem. They
are free to agree to the resolution or not. In consumer disputes, conciliation is the first stage in
the arbitration process and the conciliator is usually a member of the trade association.
adjudication, where an independent third party considers the claims of both sides and makes a
decision. Adjudicators are usually experts in the subject matter in dispute and are not bound by
the rules of litigation or arbitration. Their decisions are often interim ones, i.e. they can be
finalized using arbitration or another process. Adjudication decisions are usually binding on
both parties by prior agreement.
expert determination, where an independent third party considers
the claims and issues a
binding decision. The third party is usually an expert in the subject of the dispute and is chosen
by the parties, who agree at the outset to be bound by the expert's decision. It can be most
suitable for determining technical aspects of a complex dispute.
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