Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Mediators without Borders: How Technology Is Leading the Charge to Globalised Dispute Resolution

2006; RELX Group (Netherlands); Linguagem: Inglês

1556-5068

Nadja Marie Alexander,

Corporate Governance and Law

Mediation has made it to Hollywood. The opening scene of the romantic comedy The Wedding Crashers (2005) features a hilarious attempt at divorce mediation. The mediation scene does not demonstrate any mediation skills to be emulated and the film itself, apart from the opening scene, has nothing to do with mediation. Nevertheless one cannot ignore the power of the borderless dream machine called Hollywood. The Hollywood film industry does more than export films and fantasies around the world; it is a driving force in the globalisation of the themes with which it deals. When mediation becomes one of those themes — albeit fleetingly — it is on its way to becoming a globalised concept. The globalisation of mediation raises many themes such as the ethics of exporting mediation, how globalisation affects the principles of mediation, the challenges for dispute resolution practitioners moving between cultures, and how the design of conflict management systems can accommodate different social, legal and cultural imperatives. What is frequently overlooked in the ADR arena is the impact of technology on the globalisation of ADR services and in particular mediation. In terms of dispute resolution, technology has influenced the globalisation of ADR in two ways. First, technology has facilitated the rapid transfer of information and know-how between national and transnational actors and accelerated the dispute resolution export explosion. ADR programs for the Global South are being funded through Global North institutions as part of economic and legal reform.1 In this context western mediation is frequently introduced to reforming countries by well- intentioned consultants as a culturally-inclusive and value-free process2 — which, of course, it is not. However this is a pressing topic for another article. The second way in which technology has influenced the globalisation of ADR is through the emergence of online dispute resolution (ODR). ODR has many forms — from automated blind-bidding procedures and e-mediators without borders, to online mediation platforms with a human facilitator and online filing and case management in court-connected programs. Its continuing development and integration into larger transactional and conflict management systems reflect its growing acceptance and utility. The focus of this article3 is the impact of ODR on the globalisation of ADR.