Recommendations to the Third Annual UN Forum on Online Dispute Resolution

By Rapporteurs Professors Nadja Alexander and Laurence Boulle

The Third Annual UN Forum on Online Dispute Resolution was hosted by the International Conflict Resolution Centre (ICRC) at the University of Melbourne in collaboration with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).

Recommendations fell into six key areas:

I. Applications of ODR,

II. Infrastructure for ODR,

III. Linkages in the ODR industry,

IV. Diversity,

V. Sustainability,

VI. Quality

A common theme emerging from the six key areas was the need to emphasise the human interface with technology in all ODR developments.

The following specific recommendations have been drawn from the presentations of the main speakers and the contributions of other forum participants in the plenary and small group sessions.

I. Applications of ODR

(1) To broaden the applications of ODR to include transactional applications e.g. to facilitate online negotiations, conflict transformation, peace building, peace keeping and political decision-making;

(2) To continue the development of ODR in ways that are intuitive, culturally sensitive, scalable and platform-neutral;

(3) To develop user-friendly ODR applications

(4) To develop ODR applications in schools and other educational institutions in order to integrate ODR systems into the lives of future generations.

II. Infrastructure

(5) To explore options to strengthen the technical infrastructure for ODR, particularly with respect to improving access;

(6) To develop standards for ODR systems for ease of exchanges of cases and other data across systems and comparability across different applications;

(7) To work towards invisibility of ODR in mainstream dispute resolution;

(8) To develop common security software;

(9) To look to governments to contribute to and support “heavy-life” infrastructure.

III. Linkages

(10) To promote vertical and horizontal linkages that will facilitate the adoption of ODR, e.g., setting up of ODR professional organizations and reaching out to groups not currently involved in ODR, to increase shared learning between designers;

(11) To learn from ADR theory and practice, highlighting the similarities between the two fields and also how ADR changes when it goes online e.g. through the introduction of the fourth party;

IV. Diversity

(12) To address the need for diversity in ODR by encouraging services to utilize multiple languages and neutrals to be trained in cross-cultural competency;

(13) To encourage diversity of ODR applications (see also Applications above);

(14) To contextualise ODR to local cultures (glocalisation);

(15) To encourage demographic research to enable accurate responses to diversity needs;

(16) To investigate the use of anonymity in ODR to neutralise or otherwise manage prejudices;

V. Sustainability

(17) To enhance the sustainability of ODR by:

a. the use of appropriate technology to make services affordable, e.g. use pre-existing technology as a starting point where suitable

b. the solicitation of support from governments and grant agencies,

c. continued research into issues related to the sustainability of ODR;

VI. Quality

(18) To improve quality of ODR services by:

a. continuing professional development of neutrals,

b. the formulation of codes of conducts, standards of practice, and

c. feedback loops;

(19) To develop qualitative research capacity in ODR.