Implementing the E-Family Expert Model through a Legal Framework for Online Dispute Resolution

With the protracted Covid-19 pandemic ravaging the whole world with emergence of new virulent variants, there has been a massive backlash on the family institutions, particularly Muslim families across the world. Some of the effects of the protracted pandemic include domestic violence, increase in the rate of divorce and death of spouses which have triggered some unique nature of family disputes. With the restrictions in movement and physical distancing measures in place, one would wonder whether there could be an alternative means to resolve such budding family-related disputes. To address this issue, this paper examines the potential of the E-family Expert Model earlier designed by the authors in addressing such family-related disputes under the legal framework for online dispute resolution (ODR). The study adopts an analytical approach through qualitative research method to discuss the relevant issues with a view to finding a lasting solution to the dearth of avenues for family dispute resolution. One of the major findings of the study relates to the relevance of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in implementing the E-Family Expert model where the usual boundaries between the physical, digital and biological aspects of life are strategically blurred with the implementation of a family ODR platform. The study concludes that the E-family expert model could help in a great deal in addressing multitude of family-related disputes through an ODR platform while complying with the national legislative framework. This could be a veritable tool for the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in addressing the increasing number of family disputes through a more formalized framework for adoption by its member states.

O sistema Online Dispute Resolution em execução fiscal: arbitragem tributária e jurisdição sustentável

A execução fiscal regulamentada pela Lei nº 6.830/80 se mostrou eficiente até certo momento, mas passou a ser questionada por não ensejar o diálogo, apenas imposições e restrições sob o argumento de que o crédito é indisponível por ser de interesse público. Diante disso, surgiu uma nova corrente baseada na arbitragem com a finalidade de diminuir os processos no Poder Judiciário e para tanto, adotou-se como base de estudo a plataforma Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) em outros países, com a finalidade de promover uma prestação jurisdicional moderna e tornando-se novo meio de impugnação ao crédito tributário.

Online Courts: Bridging the Gap Between Access and Justice

This article analyses the introduction of online court proceedings through the prism of access to justice. It distinguishes between the two major recent developments in terms of justice and court accessibility – ie the institutionalisation of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms and the expansion of online dispute resolution within public courts. Whilst both movements appear to be driven by similar theoretical forces, the practical adoption of fully online judicial proceedings constitutes a step towards a different direction, opening up new opportunities for attenuating the apparently intrinsic efficiency-fairness trade-off. Due to the unique features of digital technology, the emergence of state-provided online courts and tribunals for the resolution of minor civil disputes could significantly improve the efficiency of formal adversarial litigation processes, without the risk of sacrificing proper procedural protections. Overall, this article advocates that the balanced combination offered by online court systems, albeit not a panacea, may be translated into a potential enhancement of both ‘access’ and ‘justice’.

Online Settlement of Cross-Border Disputes: Architecture of the Regulatory Environment for Consumer Disputes (European Union Experience)

The increasing complexity and digitalization of cross-border relations are an unconditional stimulus for the development and popularization of online dispute resolution mechanisms. The paper examines the European Union experience in regulating modern online mechanisms for resolving consumer disputes and attempts to determine the hierarchy of regulatory acts in relation to online resolution (settlement) of cross-border private law disputes. The author analyzes the features of the European approach to regulating the system of online resolution of crossborder disputes in order to determine the possible vector of development of national legislation as a condition necessary for building and ensuring the functioning of an effective system. The paper notes the advantages and disadvantages of the European system of online settlement of cross-border disputes with the participation of consumers. It concludes that it is necessary to resolve the issue of the applicability of the norms of existing treaties, adapt national legislation to the specifics of online dispute resolution, as well as ensure the possibility of considering cross-border disputes with consumer participation in accordance with standardized rules in order to simplify the dispute resolution procedure and build trust in the online system.

Towards International Mechanisms for Resolving Investment Disputes in Qatar

In addition to possessing one of the largest proven gas reserves worldwide, Qatar benefits from a strategic location between the East and West, forming an attractive destination for foreign direct investments. Law No. 1/2019 regulating non-Qatari capital investments provides investors with greater political and social stability along with a full range of benefits. The most significant among these benefits is the freedom offered by the legislator to resolve any dispute by choosing any type of settlement dispute. Hence, Article 16 of Law No. 1/2019 states that ‘unless it is a labour dispute, the non-Qatari Investor may agree to settle any dispute between them and others through arbitration or any other means of settling disputes in accordance with the law’. This article will discuss and analyse the other means of dispute settlement mechanism compatible with Qatar, especially when online dispute resolution has become more significant in the era of COVID-19.

THE CONCEPT AND THE MAIN FEATURES OF ONLINE DISPUTE RESOLUTION

This article addresses the phenomenon of “Online Dispute Resolution” (ODR), which has recently become popular in both practice and the legal doctrine, and which presupposes the settlement of social conflicts with the assistance of advanced Internet technologies. It is noted that despite the existence of multiple institutions offering corresponding services (ODR providers), there is still no certainty as to the concept and the main features of ODR as a socially significant activity. The authors working in the given area express various opinions on the relationship between this institute and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) or public justice, as well as the categories of cases that may be resolved in the online-mode. The present article is based on the previous experience of national and foreign researchers, offering its own definition of the ODR institute and establishing the necessity of its existence as an independent mechanism of private parties’ disputes resolution. In conclusion, the authors conclude that ODR will develop further. Already now there is a noticeable interest in it by individual states and the world community as a whole. All the necessary technologies for its practical implementation are already available. Only the legal regulation of this institute is lagging behind. The latter, despite the predominant private-legal and informal nature of ODR procedures, is extremely important, because the relevant activity cannot be carried out in a legal vacuum, without proper guarantees for the participants of a dispute and formal requirements for the procedure of conducting proceedings and its final decision.

The Past, Present, and Future of Online Dispute Resolution

This article chronicles the evolution of the field of online dispute resolution from its inception in the mid-1990s to its current application in and outside the court system. While originally ODR played a modest role in the limited domain of e-commerce, over the years its application has expanded significantly, as have its form and function: from processes that have sought to replicate online equivalents to ones that reimagine the design of procedures to better fit party needs and to address the justice system’s longstanding problems. The article predicts that the future of ODR lies in increased automation, which includes artificial intelligence and various forms of structured negotiation, and, consequently, a reduced role for human third parties. This will require a rethinking of the ways in which access to justice, procedural justice and substantive justice can be realized. The key for realizing the values and goals of the justice system lies in the careful design and ongoing evaluation of online systems, activities that have themselves been transformed by technology and the availability of big data.