Growing Informal Justice (from the Inside-Out)

Abstract

In this chapter I argue that the development and proliferation of ADR in Europe for providing high-quality procedures and outcomes needs to be addressed from the inside-out. ADR, at its best, can contribute to access to justice and has the potential to be a model of dispute resolution that embraces users notions of a just and fair procedure. ADR models then have to be designed to reflect values and ethical standards that go hand in hand with users attitudes. Does ADR (need to) create its own norms of fairness, justice and language? Thinking about justice, fairness, trust and legitimacy, questions guiding our future inquiries could include: do our traditional values and roles within our justice system have to be reconsidered? Do we need new measures and tools to create appropriate protection for actors and users in these new and rapidly growing spaces? How can we best understand these areas of little regulation and large complexity that cannot fully be captured by traditional methods, models and language?