ONLINE MEDIATION

Online Mediation: Challenges and recommendation for resolving international trade disputes



Online Mediation: Challenges and Recommendation For Resolving International Trade Disputes

Introduction

Online dispute resolution ("ODR") can take place either entirely or partly online and concerns two types of disputes: those that arise in cyberspace and those that arise offline. As Internet usage continues to expand,  it has become increasingly necessary to design efficient mechanisms for resolving Internet disputes because traditional mechanisms, such as litigation, can be time-consuming, expensive and raise jurisdictional problems. Offline disputes, on the other hand, can be addressed with traditional dispute resolution mechanisms supplemented with online technologies. Although the methods of ODR available range from negotiation and mediation to modified arbitration to modified jury proceedings,the focus of this iBrief is on negotiation and mediation in the online environment. In particular, it examines and evaluates websites that use mediation techniques to help resolve trade disputes.

This first part of this Brief discusses various websites that provide mediation services. The most salient difference between these websites is in their level of automation. As the discussion below indicates, some websites are fully automated and require little human intervention, while others involve a neutral third party as a facilitator. The second section argues that undertaking mediation over the Internet ("cyber-negotiation" and "online-mediation") has advantages and disadvantages when compared with traditional, face-to-face mediation. The advantages include cost savings and convenience, while the disadvantages include that it is impersonal and potentially inaccessible to some individuals. The final section concludes that some of the disadvantages of online-mediation may be overcome as technology advances and high-speed Internet connections allow for video-conferencing.

Online mediation

Mediation is a form of alternative dispute resolution, in which parties resolve the dispute themselves, with the help of a neutral mediator. The mediator does not make a decision, but helps the disputing parties to find the solution that is acceptable to all parties involved. One of the major advantages of mediation is the fact that relations between the disputing parties are not unnecessarily damaged. Mediation always takes place on a voluntary basis; no party can be forced to participate in a mediation procedure.

Currently there is very much interest in online possibilities of mediation. In the US there are several initiatives. In Europe there is the Dutch e-mediation initiative and the British e-mediator initiative that was launched shortly afterwards.  The Centre for Information Technology and Dispute Resolution at the University of Massachusetts has conducted a study project in 1999 to ascertain how effective an online mediator could be to solve e-disputes arising out of online auction transactions on the eBay website. eBay is the largest online auction site on the web. Through a link on the eBay customer service page 225 buyers and sellers filed a complaint during a two-week period(Hörnle 2002). The link was not publicised and two levels down on the eBay site! One of the reasons the researchers chose online mediation over online arbitration was the fact that online arbitration projects have had great difficulty in obtaining cases, because potential respondents do not wish to consent to the decision-making authority of an arbitrator. This probably also explains the fairly successful launching of several online mediation ...