The Courts and Alternative Dispute Resolution (7 September 2017)

One of the panel sessions was devoted to the ELI-ENCJ (European Network of Councils for the Judiciary) Project on the Principled Relationship of Formal and Informal Justice through the Courts and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).

Esteemed speakers representing various vocational backgrounds, in particular Tiina Astola, Director-General for Justice and Consumers at the European Commission, Naomi Creutzfeld, Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Westminster, Gregory Hunt, Managing Director of Hunt ADR Limited, Felicitas Paller, Judge at the Vienna Commercial Court, Geoffrey Vos, Chancellor of the High Court in England & Wales, and Diana Wallis, then President of the ELI, shared their views on the crucial topic of ensuring access to justice with regard to different processes of dispute resolution. Panellists discussed how to avoid injustice that could arise from ADR for vulnerable participants.

In particular, the speakers emphasised the importance of this ELI-ENCJ project for raising awareness about the mutual relationship between courts and ADR, since currently there is little knowledge among judges and practitioners about best practices in relation to the approach that courts and judges should adopt in interacting with all types of ADR processes. The panellists also highlighted that the Project’s value lies in establishing rules and standards which are currently lacking or which differ in EU Member States.