Conflict Avoidance and Dispute Resolution 1

Question 1

What is the conflict avoidance process?

Answer 1

Clarity - Any instruction, contract etc should be clear to so everyone has a clear understanding.

Applicability - things should be applicable to their context.

Effective management - things should be well managed and expectations managed.

Early warnings - if a dispute arises there should be something in place to deal with the dispute early i.e. contractor notifies CA as soon as possible etc.

Workable procedures - For example liquidated damages in JCT. Variations if something needs changing etc.

Question 2

What are the three pillars of dispute resolution?

Answer 2

1. Negotiation (Always try first)
2. Mediation (Third party intervention) (Always try second)
3. Adjudication/Arbitration/Litigation (go through process)

Question 3

What is mediation?

Answer 3

Private, informal process in which parties are assisted by one or more parties to try and reach a settlement.

Question 4

What is adjudication?

Answer 4

28 day short term dispute resolution procedure which aims to resolve the disputes without the need to undertake a long and costly court procedure. Adjudicator decides on settlement and can only be underwritten by Arbitrator or Litigation.

Question 5

What is arbitration?

Answer 5

An arbitrator is a private Judge between party and party

Providing arbitrators stay within the law, there is generally no appeal from the arbitrator’s award, and the award may be enforced by the courts if necessary.

Arbitration is a private form of dispute resolution that is agreed by the parties in the contract. An arbitrator, or panel of arbitrators, is appointed by the parties to make a binding decision from which there are very limited grounds of challenge.

The Arbitration Act 1996.

Question 6

What is litigation?

Answer 6

Refers to a process in which a dispute goes through the usual court process and not a type of Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) which are Mediation, Adjudication and Arbitration.

Can be settled by a judge or outside of court in a ‘deal’

3 Stages
Discovery (i.e case started, pre-negotiations/meetings)
Trial
Post-Trial

Can appeal decisions high courts.