- Title
- Judicial involvement in settlement conferences: opportunities and issues
- Creator
- Sourdin, Tania
- Relation
- Civil Justice Quarterly Vol. 38, Issue 1, p. 69-87
- Relation
- https://www.sweetandmaxwell.co.uk/Product/Litigation/Civil-Justice-Quarterly/Journal/30791399
- Publisher
- Sweet & Maxwell
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2019
- Description
- Across a range of jurisdictions, the judicial role has changed significantly over the past few decades, partly in response to access to justice issues as well as an increasing focus on case management. In many countries, the civil court system has increasingly turned its focus to the efficient resolution of disputes through methods other than adjudication. In many parts of the world, it is now widely accepted that judges may support settlement discussions. Indeed, this often forms a significant feature of the judicial workload in some jurisdictions. In this context, there are significant opportunities and judges may be well-positioned to make strategic interventions that assist parties in settling a dispute. However, despite this, there may be concerns about judges undertaking such activities and in some jurisdictions, specialised judges referred to as “settlement” judges, magistrate judges or associate judges or in some cases, more junior judicial staff, such as registrars undertake this work. The processes used by judicial officers are often referred to as mediation however they may have significantly different characteristics and could perhaps be better referred to as settlement conferencing or judicial dispute resolution. This paper explores the evolving nature of judicial dispute resolution including the use of settlement conferences, and recognises the important role this work can play in the new court-connected dispute resolution system. Both the issues and opportunities associated with judicial involvement in conferences are explored. It is argued that the role undertaken by the judicial officer can be a reflection of local court cultures and as a result, some iterations of the model, such as those where the judge meets privately with one party in the absence of another, may be best avoided in some jurisdictions, and that overall, judges can and should have some involvement with settlement conference work.
- Subject
- court-annexed ADR; judges; mediation; negotiation; settlement
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1444838
- Identifier
- uon:42422
- Identifier
- ISSN:0261-9261
- Language
- eng
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