Arbitration Law
Chapter 6
ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION
NATURE OF ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION
History of alternative dispute resolution
6.1
*°Generally speaking, all mechanisms for settling disputes other than by judicial process may be referred to as “alternative dispute resolution” or “ADR”. In recent times the phrase has tended to be regarded as excluding arbitration and instead as relating to a wide variety of techniques designed to allow the parties to resolve their disputes speedily, cheaply, without prejudice to their continuing commercial relationship and in a manner which does not necessarily reflect the technical legal rights and wrongs of their respective positions. ADR may be provided for in the agreement between the parties, or it may take the form of an ad hoc procedure entered into after the dispute between them has arisen: the decision to attempt ADR may be a voluntary one by the parties, or it may be in effect forced upon them by the case management powers of the English courts.