Types of ADR

This page gives a brief overview of how this section of the website works.
 

Resolving disputes
Most disputes begin with a negotiation stage. Negotiation can take place directly between the people in dispute, or with advisers negotiating on behalf of one or both sides. Where negotiation fails, the parties have to decide whether to give up, or whether to take things further.
 
The main options for taking things further are:
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR)
Tribunals
Courts
 


Alternative dispute resolution (ADR)
If you want some prompts for thinking about whether ADR is a good idea for you, have a look at the Pros and Cons of ADR on this site.
 
If you want to know more about different kinds of ADR processes in the UK, this website gives an independent overview of the main options:
 
Adjudication
Arbitration
Conciliation
Mediation
Ombudsmen
 
You can go to these pages for a description of how each process works, and for profiles of examples of each type of ADR scheme in the UK.
 

Tribunals
There are more than 80 tribunals in the UK, each dealing with a specific type of dispute. For example, there are tribunals to consider asylum and immigration appeals, benefits decisions, mental health issues and special educational needs decisions. Information about the different tribunals, and how they work, can be found on the Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service website.
 
Perhaps the most well known tribunals are Employment Tribunals, which deal with disputes at work. Mediation is offered by the Employment Tribunal in some cases. For information about a pilot using tribunal judges to mediate claims of discrimination, see 2010 Judicial mediation in employment discrimination.
 

Courts
Sometimes disputes need to be taken to court in order to resolve them appropriately. This may be where there needs to be some way of enforcing a decision, where the parties are very unequal, or where a judge needs to determine a point of law so that others can rely on that decision in the future.
 
Some courts also offer ADR, such as mediation, as a way to resolve claims without a hearing. For example, parties in small claims that are issued in county courts in England and Wales will be offered mediation by the court free of charge. For information see Small claims mediation.
 
You can find out more about the different courts in the UK on the following websites:
The Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service in England and Wales
The Northern Ireland Courts Service
The Scottish Courts Service
 
December 2011