Advantages and Disadvantages of Alternative Dispute Resolution

Running head: ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Alternative Dispute Resolution
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Author Note

1ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION
It is evident that under the Australian legal system, most of the cases involves civil
disputes are resolved by the method of alternative dispute resolution. In this regard, it is worth
noting that various other disputes were resolved by involving the process of judicial decision and
litigation. However, various proposals were made for the purpose of improving the methods of
alternative dispute resolution. In this regard, for the purpose of improving methods of alternative
dispute resolution, various government policies were implemented at both state and federal
levels. Therefore, alternative dispute resolution has been defined as the process of dispute
resolution involving two or more parties which involves the elimination of lengthy court
proceedings (Bachar and Hensler 2017). The process of alternative dispute resolution has been
applied for the purpose of promoting early settlement in disputes by reducing the expensive costs
involved in litigation. The paper is commissioned to examine the advantages and disadvantages
of alternative dispute resolution and the perspective of Justice Michael Kirby on it.
Alternative Dispute Resolution involves various methods which can be emphasized as-
arbitration, mediation, conciliation and negotiation. From the very beginning, these methods of
dispute resolution have proved to be beneficial in solving disputes under the Rules of Civil
Procedures (Curran, Vernon and Barnett 2017). However, it is generally expected on the part of
the parties to involve themselves in proceedings involving arbitration or other forms of
alternative dispute resolution for the purpose of avoiding court proceedings. In this regard, the
Courts are at the authority to apply the methods of alternative dispute resolution whenever
necessary. In this context, the advantages of alternative disputes resolution can be taken into
consideration. The process involved with alternative dispute resolution is much cheaper as
compared to court proceedings, which involves expensive court fees and complex procedures
(Delgado 2017). Alternative dispute resolution is much quicker and flexible. The process of

2ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION
negotiation which is associated with alternative dispute resolution is much quicker than the other
options available as the parties involved in such process solve their disputes by negotiating
certain terms and conditions. It is worth noting that the process of alternative dispute resolution
enforces full control over the parties to dispute within a considerable period. This is because,
once the dispute is referred to the Courts on appeal, then there is no time limit regarding the fact
that when the disputes are going to end. From the very beginning, the process of alternative
dispute resolution is associated with the fact which involves providing appropriate solution to the
parties in dispute. However, the process associated with the alternative dispute resolution is
private in nature which has proved to be effective in dealing with matters involving commercial
regulations. The most important advantage of using arbitration or mediation over court
proceedings is that, in case of court proceedings, the Judge is an expert in legal area (Duffy and
Field 2014). However, he may not have adequate knowledge regarding matters involving
building or disputes regarding civil engineering. Therefore, he relies upon the facts presented to
him. The process of arbitration involves expert arbitrators who possesses sufficient knowledge
regarding the area of expertise and therefore do not rely upon expert evidence. As a result of it,
the proceedings involved in alternative dispute resolution becomes much cheaper and less time
consuming.
It is noteworthy to mention here that in spite of various advantages, a number of
disadvantages are involved with alternative dispute resolution. It is evident that the processes
involved in alternative dispute resolution are dependent upon the capacity of the disputing parties
to compromise. In most of the cases, it can be observed that the parties usually settle their matter
for a considerably less amount and even in some cases; they do not want to compromise at all. It
is worth noting that though the process involved in alternative dispute resolution less expensive