Online Dispute Resolution/Mass Procedures
Online dispute resolution (ODR) is a branch of dispute resolution which uses technology to facilitate the resolution of disputes between parties outside the courtroom in an online fashion.
In short, ODR refers “to the use of IT and the internet to help resolve disputes.” (U.K. Civil Justice Council, Online Dispute Resolution, 2015, 4). When disputes are resolved by using ODR, the settlement process is entirely, or largely, conducted through the internet. Human beings might be occasionally involved in the ODR process, but they are not essential to the process. ODR is suitable for relatively low value disputes which can be resolved more quickly and for less costs with ODR than with ordinary courts. Broadly, ODR methods could be grouped into two consensual and adjudicative methods. Consensual methods involve automated or assisted negotiation. Automated negotiation relates to those consensual methods in which technology “negotiates” cases in which parties do not dispute on liability but need to agree on the value of remedies. Automated ODR services offer so-called “blind-bidding” services, including double blind bidding and visual blind bidding through a sophisticated auction mechanism. Blind-bidding services match offers and demands. Disputants might have, for example, three opportunities or rounds to settle a claim. One demand or offer is entered for each round. The service provider compares the demands to the opposition’s corresponding offer. When the offer is greater than or equal to the opposition’s demand, the claim instantly settles.Another form of consensual ODR methods is the so-called “expedient non-adjudicative online resolution” which prioritizes expedience and dispenses with adjudication altogether. The ODR method recognizes the litigants’ desire to simply dispose of the matter as quickly as possible. An algorithm automatically determines a fair settlement to be accepted by each party. The concept of “crowdjustice” has also recently taken shape as a means to leverage social norms and the wisdom of crowds to determine the outcome of a dispute. The most prominent adjudicative method is online arbitration, i.e. a process where a neutral third party (arbitrator) delivers a decision online which is final, and binding on both parties.
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