Civil Courts - NEG Flashcards
What are the four negatives for civil courts
Too expensive
Inequality of power
Damages Future Relations
Lack of technical knowledge
Too expensive
Parties have to pay for legal aid and cases can last for a very long time making it a very expensive process.
The lack of civil legal aid also further pushes this point
In addition, the losing party can be ordered to pay the other parties legal fees, making the financial burden even worse
Inequality of Power
Despite both parties having access to court, there can still be an inequality in power due to one party having more money and therefore being able to have better legal aid (Steel and Morris)
Some methods of ADR prevent this from happening as legal representation is not used and the focus is on communication and not on bargaining power.
Damages Future Relations
The adverse nature of court cases lead to situations where parties are often increasingly more hostile towards one another, which can damage the relationship between the parties and prevent any future peaceful dealings between them.
This is not the case with some methods of ADR, such as mediation and conciliation, which help to preserve these relationships for future dealings.
Lack of technical knowledge
Whilst judges in courts have legal expertise, they might not always have the technical, real-world expertise for certain disputes which may arise, such as complicated business dealings, which can lead to incorrect decisions being made.
Methods of ADR such as arbitration use decision makers who have technical expertise in the subject area of the dispute, so they may be able to make more appropriate decisions.
