Arbitration is an important feature of the American justice system, providing numerous benefits, such as flexible dispute resolution, efficiency, privacy and avoidance of unwarranted punitive damages, while significantly reducing cases on overloaded court dockets. Its success, however, is not without criticism; and in the case of class arbitration waivers, as this article suggests, that criticism is well founded. |
Search result: 54 articles
Year 2015 xArticle |
‘Opportunity Knocking?’ Is Online Binding Arbitration a Viable Solution to Consumer Claim Preclusion Resulting from the Supreme Court’s Endorsement of Class Arbitration Waivers in Consumer Contracts of Adhesion? |
Journal | International Journal of Online Dispute Resolution, Issue 2 2015 |
Keywords | online binding arbitration, class arbitration waiver |
Authors | Andrew M. Malzahn |
AbstractAuthor's information |
Article |
A Hungarian E-Learning Initiative and Its Implications |
Journal | International Journal of Online Dispute Resolution, Issue 2 2015 |
Keywords | e-learning, pedagogical skills, educational reforms, Hungary, online dispute resolution |
Authors | Peter Mezei and Benjamin G. Davis |
AbstractAuthor's information |
The present article aims to introduce an innovative educational reform launched by the University of Szeged Faculty of Law. The e-learning initiative of the Szeged Law School offers a chance for both students and lecturers to set aside the traditional Prussian method of education used by the Hungarian professors. Such initiative might, however, have broader implications as well. As such, it can clearly help internationalizing legal education in Hungary and in its neighbouring countries, as well as serve as a great example for other international projects, like online dispute resolution programmes. |
Article |
Structure of Legislation: A Paradigm for Accessibility and Effectiveness |
Journal | European Journal of Law Reform, Issue 3 2015 |
Keywords | effectiveness of legislation, structure of legislation, accessibility of legislation, quality drafting, clarity |
Authors | Elohor Onoge |
AbstractAuthor's information |
The aim of this article is to examine how the structure of legislation can nurture accessibility and effectiveness of legislation. |
Article |
Sir William Dale Annual Memorial LectureIs Legislation Literature? |
Journal | European Journal of Law Reform, Issue 3 2015 |
Authors | Sir Geoffrey Bowman |
Author's information |
Article |
Delegated Legislation in Nigeria: The Challenges of Control |
Journal | European Journal of Law Reform, Issue 3 2015 |
Keywords | delegated legislation, parliament, control, quality, parliamentary scrutiny |
Authors | Jemina Benson LL.M |
AbstractAuthor's information |
In considering how society generally is regulated, most times focus is always on Acts of parliament that are passed by the legislative arm of government. However, delegated legislation is another aspect of law making that is of immense importance for the regulation of any given society. This form of lawmaking being a deviation from the norm has some challenges in terms of control. This article seeks to examine some of these challenges emphasising that adequate parliamentary scrutiny will prevent the harbouring of bad-quality legislation. |
Statutory interpretation is quickly becoming the primary function of our courts. Ambiguity, unexpected scenarios, and drafting errors in legislation compound this challenging task, obliging many judges to turn to debate transcripts and other legislative materials in search of our elected representatives’ intent. |
Article |
Indigenous Cultural Resources for PeacebuildingKhan Abdul Ghaffar Khan’s Philosophy and Conflict in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan |
Journal | International Journal of Conflict Engagement and Resolution, Issue 2 2015 |
Keywords | Islam, Khudai Khidmatghar, Taliban, Pakhtuns, liberal peacebuilding |
Authors | Saira Bano Orakzai |
AbstractAuthor's information |
Indigenous peacebuilding has introduced numerous challenges to the approach of liberal peacebuilding that is well advocated around the world. The conflict in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan presents one such challenge for the local peacebuilders – whereas the implementation of the liberal peacebuilding has failed. Adopting a subaltern perspective, this article examines indigenous cultural peacebuilding resources for this conflict. Prominent among these resources is the philosophy of non-violence and self-restraint of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and his Khudai Khidmatgar non-violent movement. The article discusses Khan’s philosophy and the movement it inspired, while making a case for the value of such indigenous resources in the development of culturally appropriate responses for countering militancy and violence in FATA. The article uses the writings of Ghaffar Khan together with secondary resources to suggest measures to counter the contemporary violent extremism by the Taliban and draw upon indigenous approaches to make peacebuilding more effective in FATA. |
Article |
Hybrid Peacebuilding in Northern Ireland and the Border CountiesThe Impact of the International Fund for Ireland and the European Union’s Peace III Fund |
Journal | International Journal of Conflict Engagement and Resolution, Issue 2 2015 |
Keywords | Northern Ireland, economic aid, elicitive approach, liberal peace, grass-roots everyday peacemakers |
Authors | Julie Hyde and Sean Byrne |
AbstractAuthor's information |
This article draws upon a wide qualitative study of the experiences and perceptions held by 107 community group leaders and 13 funding agency development officers within the liminal context of Northern Ireland and the Border Counties. These organizations received funding from the European Union’s Peace III Program and/or the International Fund for Ireland. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with key figures in these groups and agencies during the summer of 2010. This data is explored in relation to the concept of hybrid peacebuilding so as to better identify and articulate the potentialities and challenges associated with grass-roots macro-level interactions. The empirical findings indicate the necessity of flexibility in empowering local decision makers in a hybridized peacebuilding process. Local people should be involved with the funders and the governments in constructing and in implementing these processes. The theoretical findings are consistent with previous research that favors elicitive and local rather than top-down bureaucratic and technocratic processes. More attention needs to be paid to how local people see conflict and how they build peace. The prescriptive/practical implications are that policymakers must include the grass roots in devising and implementing peacebuilding; the grass roots need to ensure their local practices and knowledge are included; and external funders must include local people’s needs and visions in more heterogeneous hybrid peacebuilding approaches. The article is original, providing grass-roots evidence of the need to develop the hybrid peacebuilding model. |
Article |
Financial Crime Prevention and ControlThe Reforms of a ‘Unique’ Jurisdiction under EU Law and International Standards |
Journal | European Journal of Law Reform, Issue 4 2015 |
Keywords | Vatican financial system, money laundering, terrorist financing, 3rd AMLD, FATF Recommendations |
Authors | Francesco De Pascalis |
AbstractAuthor's information |
Between 2011 and 2014, the Vatican City State (VCS) experienced a reform process which dramatically changed its financial system. The process is still ongoing, and its goal is to establish an anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) system. Importantly, this system will be based on the AML/CTF EU legislation and international standards. These facts are noteworthy. First, the reforms cast light on the main Vatican financial institutions against the background of the secrecy that has always characterized their functioning and business operations. Accordingly, there is now more transparency and information about the Vatican financial system. Second, the relevant EU law and international standards are tools through which the VCS can, for the first time, join an international network of countries, sharing and applying the same rules against money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF). This is of extraordinary importance for a jurisdiction like the VCS, which has never referred to European or international principles in its rule-making. In particular, the openness to EU law and international standards stimulates investigating the reasons behind these changes and the impact that these sources of law are having on a jurisdiction regarded as ‘unique’ in the world. |
Article |
Corruption and Controls |
Journal | European Journal of Law Reform, Issue 4 2015 |
Keywords | corruption, controls, inspections, administration, regulation |
Authors | Maria De Benedetto |
AbstractAuthor's information |
Anti-corruption is a relatively recent policy which calls for controls. They represent the most effective means in rebalancing institutions which are not fully informed: ‘secrecy’, in fact, characterizes infringements and corrupt behaviour. |
Article |
‘Living in Sin’: A Reform Proposal for Financial Relief Following Cohabitation Breakdown |
Journal | European Journal of Law Reform, Issue 4 2015 |
Keywords | cohabitation, financial relief, family trusts, common law marriage |
Authors | Luke Tattersall |
AbstractAuthor's information |
The number of adults choosing to cohabit has increased by over 67% since 1991. Despite such a dramatic shift in social norms, the law governing financial relief upon relationship breakdown remains inept to handle the significant increase in cohabitants. This article examines how the current system of family trusts constitutes an archaic and inadequate means of dividing cohabitants’ assets. The law of trusts fails to reflect the subtleties of personal relationships, often resulting in financial injustice. The author goes on to consider the notion of common law marriage, highlighting how despite attempts by both the government and policy makers to dispel the concept it nevertheless remains prevalent throughout the United Kingdom. The core counterargument to extending financial relief is that it would undermine the institution of marriage and obscure the boundaries between cohabitant and spouse. This article critically examines this claim, adopting cross-jurisdictional analysis by considering the experiences of Scotland, Ireland and Australia where cohabitants have greater financial rights before concluding that the argument fails to stand up to scrutiny. The author ends by advancing a series of reforms designed to vindicate cohabitants, resulting in a fairer distribution of assets and bringing legal recognition to the United Kingdom’s largest growing family unit. |
Article |
Commonalities in the English Tort and French Criminal Wrong of Defamation |
Journal | European Journal of Law Reform, Issue 4 2015 |
Keywords | defamation, tort, crime, comparative, path dependence |
Authors | Mathilde Groppo |
AbstractAuthor's information |
This article considers the extent to which the nature of the regulation – tortious or criminal – influences the substantive content of the rules in England and France. It argues that the English and French regulatory features are the result of path dependence. Consequently, while they have led to substantive differences, they do not prevent the emergence of a shared approach to the wrong. |
Article |
Can Imprisonment Be Cheaper? The Case for Private Prisons |
Journal | European Journal of Law Reform, Issue 4 2015 |
Keywords | costs, criminal law, law and economics, private prisons, privatization |
Authors | Elena Kantorowicz-Reznichenko |
AbstractAuthor's information |
Custody is the most expensive method of punishment in the Western world, as compared to other alternatives. Although expensive, prison is an indispensible instrument to deal with judgement proof or dangerous offenders. Hence, by using the law and economics approach, this article explores prison privatization as an instrument for less expensive incarceration. This method has the potential to reduce the prison costs without hampering its quality. However, a restructuring of the current contracts is needed to achieve this purpose. The attention given to the topic of private prisons by the law and economics scholars, especially in the European context, is limited, and this article attempts to fill this gap. The present article applies arguments from the bureaucracy and political science literature to explain the inefficiencies of public prisons. Subsequently, the potential problems of private prisons are presented through the principle-agent model and solutions are offered. |
Article |
Addressing Impunity for Serious Crimes: The Imperative for Domesticating the Rome Statute of the ICC in Nigeria |
Journal | African Journal of International Criminal Justice, Issue 2 2015 |
Keywords | Accountability, conflict, crimes, justice system |
Authors | Stanley Ibe |
AbstractAuthor's information |
Over the last decade, Nigeria has witnessed several high-intensity conflicts. It became a country under preliminary investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) following allegations of serious crimes. In 2013, the boko haram insurgency was classified as a “non-international armed conflict.” Commentators appear divided over the capacity and willingness of domestic institutions to manage crimes arising from or connected with conflicts in Nigeria. Those who argue for unwillingness often point to the struggle to domesticate the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (Rome Statute) as one of the clearest indication that there is not sufficient interest. This article interrogates the question of seeming impunity for serious crimes in Nigeria and makes a case for domesticating the Rome Statute through an amendment to the Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes, Genocide and Related Offences Bill, 2012 pending before the National Assembly. |
Article |
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Journal | Erasmus Law Review, Issue 4 2015 |
Keywords | Israel, austerity, civil procedure, simplified procedures, small claims |
Authors | Ehud Brosh |
AbstractAuthor's information |
Israel was spared the worst of the world financial crisis of 2008-2009. However, austerity concerns are by no means invisible in the developments in the field of civil procedure. These concerns correlate heavily with the long-standing Israeli preoccupation with ‘speeding up’ justice. An array of simplified procedural tracks, aimed at addressing the perceived inadequacy of ‘standard’ procedure, have been developed in Israel over the years. The importance of simplified procedures in the Israeli system cannot be overestimated. Their development illustrates the dialectical tension between the values of ‘efficiency’ and ‘quality’ in the administration of justice. During periods of austerity, the scales are easily (or easier) tipped in favour of efficiency and general or particular simplification of procedure. In times of prosperity, on the other hand, concerns over ‘quality’, access to justice, and truth discovery predominate, and attempts at promoting efficiency and/or simplification at their expense tend to be bogged down. Such attempts also tend to lose their extrinsic legitimacy and are widely viewed as ‘cutting corners’. This is evident in the recent Israeli experience with civil procedure reform. |
Article |
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Journal | Erasmus Law Review, Issue 4 2015 |
Keywords | Austerity, court fees and legal aid, adversarial and inquisitorial process, McKenzie Friends, simplified process |
Authors | John Sorabji |
AbstractAuthor's information |
This article considers the effect of austerity-induced public spending cuts on the English civil justice system. In doing so it initially examines two fundamental changes engendered by the effect austerity has had on civil court fees and legal aid: first, a challenge to the traditional commitment in English procedure to adversarial process, and a concomitant increase in inquisitorial or investigative processes; and secondly, the growth in use of unqualified individuals to act as advocates in court for individual litigants who are unable to afford legal representation. It then turns to consider what, if any, effect austerity has had on simplified processes available in English civil procedure. |
Article |
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Journal | Erasmus Law Review, Issue 4 2015 |
Keywords | Canada, small and simple matters, austerity, civil justice, access to justice |
Authors | Jonathan Silver and Trevor C.W. Farrow |
AbstractAuthor's information |
Canada is in the midst of an access to justice crisis. The rising costs and complexity of legal services in Canada have surpassed the need for these services. This article briefly explores some obstacles to civil justice as well as some of the court-based programmes and initiatives in place across Canada to address this growing access to justice gap. In particular, this article explains the Canadian civil justice system and canvasses the procedures and programmes in place to make the justice system more efficient and improve access to justice in small and simple matters. Although this article does look briefly at the impact of the global financial crisis on access to justice efforts in Canada, we do not provide empirical data of our own on this point. Further, we conclude that there is not enough existing data to draw correlations between austerity measures in response to the global crisis and the challenges facing Canadian civil justice. More evidence-based research would be helpful to understand current access to justice challenges and to make decisions on how best to move forward with meaningful innovation and policy reform. However, there is reason for optimism in Canada: innovative ideas and a national action plan provide reason to believe that the country can simplify, expedite, and increase access to civil justice in meaningful ways over the coming years. |
Editorial |
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Journal | Erasmus Law Review, Issue 4 2015 |
Authors | Xandra Kramer and Shusuke Kakiuchi |
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Article |
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Journal | Erasmus Law Review, Issue 4 2015 |
Keywords | Belgium, small matters, simple matters, recovery of unchallenged claims, summary order for payment |
Authors | Stefaan Voet |
AbstractAuthor's information |
This article is based on a national report that was written for the XVth World Congress of the International Association of Procedural Law that was held in Istanbul in May 2015 and that focused on Effective Judicial Relief and Remedies in an Age of Austerity. It first of all sketches the general judicial context in Belgium and some of its relevant features: the judicial organisation, the goals of the civil justice system, the course of an ordinary civil lawsuit, the role of the court, and the litigation costs. Next, a detailed and critical overview of the current and future procedures that offer relief in small and simple matters is given. The current summary order for payment procedure, which was introduced in 1967, did not meet its goals. The article concludes that a new trend is emerging in Belgium, namely keeping small and unchallenged claims outside the judiciary and providing for cheaper and more efficient alternatives. |
Article |
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Journal | Erasmus Law Review, Issue 4 2015 |
Keywords | austerity, civil procedure, access to justice, Brazil, small claims |
Authors | Antonio Gidi and Hermes Zaneti, Jr. |
AbstractAuthor's information |
The current debate in Brazilian Civil Procedure revolves around efficiency, legal certainty, and access to justice, not austerity. As a matter of fact, the debate over austerity is nonexistent in Brazil so far. By expanding the access to justice to a broader portion of the society, the legal system increased the number of cases and the costs associated with the judicial system. But the excess litigation and expense associated with the expansion of access to justice has contradictorily curtailed access to justice. This new situation demands new efforts to increase efficiency and legal certainty, while still increasing access to justice. |