Online Dispute Resolution In Asia

Online dispute resolution (ODR) is the buzz word these days for resolution of various sorts of disputes. ODR is effective, efficient, cost effective and expeditious in nature. However, despite the benefits of ODR, the same is not very popular among the Asian countries.

Even in Indian context, there are very few ODR service providers in India and ODR in India is facing severe legal and technical roadblocks. The arbitration and conciliation act 1996 is the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) law of India. It has served its purpose and it deserves to be replaced by a new and better law that can accommodate ODR as well.

Further, the role of ICT in effective judicial system is also apparent. Technological innovations like e-courts can greatly help in streamlining the aged and collapsing judicial system of India. In the Indian context, we are still waiting for the establishment of first e-court of India.

E-courts require the capability and expertise to provide all litigation services in an online environment. To achieve that purpose we need to have e-courts skills development initiatives in India.

Indian government has recently approved the proposal of Law Ministry to operationalise the National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms. The National Mission will focus on improvement in administration of justice and justice delivery and legal reforms in the entire country and it has to address diverse needs of all sections of stakeholders in a Mission Mode approach.

However, despite having sufficient permissions and grants for use of technology in the form of ODR and e-courts, there are no positive outcomes. Lack of expertise and political will seems to be the two major reasons for failure of ODR and e-courts in India.

Asian countries must replicate the successful models of Singapore in the fields of ODR and e-courts. We have talked enough in India and it is high time for us to act now.

Online Dispute Resolution In India

Online dispute resolution (ODR) is one of the most effective methods of dispute resolution. However, in the absence of international harmonisation and lack of technical expertise, ODR has still not achieved what it could have achieved.

Online dispute resolution in India (ODR in India) is not even at its infancy stage. In fact, it does not exist at all. This is so because the legislature of India is not very comfortable with technology related issues.

For instance, information and communication technology (ICT) has not been a part of either the legal system of India or the judicial system of India. Till August 2010 India does not has even a single e-court.

Lawyers and judges are neither conversant nor very comfortable with the ICT related issues and technology laws. Very few of them are aware about the cyber law of India. They are also not aware of the benefits of ICT and e-governance in the sound legal and judicial purposes.

So much so that we at Perry4Law and Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB) are managing the exclusive e-courts training and consultancy Centre of India. This initiative is very comprehensive in nature and would strengthen the e-courts in India and ODR in India.

However, the ultimate call is for the Law Minister Veerappa Moily to take. For some reasons he has not considered the use of ICT for legal and judicial reforms of India. Even the National Litigation Policy of India (NLPI) suggested by him lacks ICT strengthening.

India needs to take care of many aspects if it wishes to become an Arbitration Hub of the World. It cannot expect to be the same for international commercial arbitration till it adopts both technology as well as an effective legislative framework.

The Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 urgently needs suitable amendments, perhaps a reenactment, keeping in mind the contemporary requirements and International standards.

India has waited for a long and it is high time for it to take some real, effective and actual steps in the directions of international commercial arbitration, ODR and e-courts.

Online Dispute Resolution And Cross Border E-Commerce Transactions

Online dispute resolution (ODR) essentially involves innovative use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to resolve disputes. ODR is an improvement of the traditional alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms like arbitration, mediation, conciliations, etc. Although all these forms of ADR mechanism are still used in ODR yet the main difference is that of technology.

Being technology driven, ODR is a very wide field. It can be used for resolving various interpersonal disputes including consumer to consumer disputes (C2C) or marital separation; to court disputes and interstate conflicts. However, the most significant use of ODR is its application to e-commerce. In particular ODR is most suitable for resolving disputes arising out of business to consumer (B2C) and business to business (B2B) online transactions.

ODR is also conducive for resolving disputes between parties that are residing in far away and opposite countries of the World. In this ICT connected World, ODR is increasingly used for resolving disputes arising out of cross-border electronic commerce transactions, including B2B and B2C transactions.

However, ODR cannot succeed in the absence of harmonised legal and regulatory framework. There must be a common standard and best practices for ODR to succeed. Similarly, another key factor for the success of ODR is efficient enforcement. Without efficient enforcement ODR would lack the appeal to the parties to adopt ODR for dispute resolution.

Although the journey of ODR has begun yet it has still to cover a long gap. At Perry4Law we would always strive for the betterment of ODR in general and parties to the dispute in particular. Our specialised Techno Legal Segment Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB) has been working in the sphere of “International Harmonisation” regarding ODR.

We are not only providing Techno Legal ODR Services but are also working in the direction of Research, Training, Education and Policy Making regarding ADR and ODR. We hope our initiatives and efforts would prove useful for all concerned.