Forms of dispute resolution

• Tribunals operate alongside the court system. They are less formal than courts and handle certain types of disputes.
• role of tribunals is to enforce rights which have been granted through social and welfare legislation. These rights include; right to not be discriminated against and right to redundancy payment.
• First tier tribunals deal with 600,000 cases per year and has nearly 200 judges. Contains 7 chambers including; taxation and health & education.
• Upper tribunal is divided into 4 chambers which are the administrative appeals chamber, tax and chancery, lands and asylum and immigration.

  From here there is further possibility for appeal to Court of Appeal and then finally to Supreme Court.
• In tribunals here is usually someone with expertise in the particular field of the tribunal sitting with the tribunal judge.
• advantages of tribunals;

  • cheaper
  • quicker
  • more informal
  • expertise
• disadvantages of tribunals;

  • lack of funding
  • more formal than ADR
  • delays in getting a hearing
• Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)

  Includes any method of resolving dispute without resorting to using the courts.
• negotiation is the process of trying to come to an agreement between two parties themselves.

  Usually done in private and solicitors can be informed to negotiate if an agreement cant be made.
• mediation is using a neutral person in a dispute to help parties come to a solution.

  Only suitable when there is a hope that parties can co-operate. It is important in family cases.
• Courts V ADR:

  • ADR is much cheaper
  • in ADR the parties are in control
  • neither parties win or lose, they agree.