Civil Courts - POS

Question 1

What are the four positives for civil courts

Answer 1

Fair

Judge is a Legal Expert

Enforceable

Appeals Process

Question 2

Fair

Answer 2

Decisions made based on precedent which allows consistency in law, fairness for the party and neutrality for the judge

Decisions made in ADR do not set precedent so may lead to inconsistent outcomes and some methods such as arbitration don’t use a neutral third party so may lead to bias

Question 3

Judge is a Legal Expert

Answer 3

Their job is to make decisions in the courts and they are legally trained and experienced so will understand the issues and options for the parties

In high court there are also specialist divisions so the complex law will be understood

With methods of ADR the third party is not a legal expert, however they are experienced in dealing with their area of expertise

Question 4

Enforceable

Answer 4

Decisions by the courts are legally binding - can be enforced by the party who gets the order in their favour. This gives the parties certainty that the matter will be resolved.

Not always the case with ADR - mediation, conciliation and negotiation only resolve the dispute if both parties come to an agreement.

Question 5

Appeals Process

Answer 5

The courts system has a clear appeals process with set rules which allows parties to understand their options and appeal against a decision which they might feel is unfair or if mistakes are made, which not all methods of ADR have. This ensures faith in the system.

However if parties use ADR and this does not work or does not result in an agreement, they can still use the courts system to resolve issues anyway.