Difference Between Arbitration And Mediation

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In the world of commerce, employment, and other social relations, businesses and individuals strive to choose either arbitration or mediation (conciliation). There are situations when parties submit their cases to arbitration bodies for mediation and, vice versa, when mediators are requested to resolve the dispute through the arbitration award. The arbitration and mediation traditions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but their general ideas still remain similar. However, while a mediator in a single process possesses no entitled authority to render an award, an arbitrator is vested with more procedural powers and can execute a mediator’s functions. Furthermore, despite the flexibility of arbitration and mediation procedures, as well …show more content…

Although functions of mediators and arbitrators have several characteristics in common, there are significant instrumental differences that make them distinct from one another. Firstly, whereas the arbitration process is similar to litigation in its adversarial nature, in which parties have the objective to win the dispute, the fundamental goal of mediation is to bring the disputants to settlement through compromise and cooperation without finding a guilty party. In arbitration, parties compete against each other in “win-lose” situation. During mediation, parties work on mutually acceptable conditions with the assistance of a facilitator. In this process, mediators do not have power to make decisions, they work to reconcile the competing needs and interests of involved parties. The mediator’s tasks are to assist disputants to identify, understand, and articulate their needs and interests to each other (Christopher W. Moore, …show more content…

Both forms of ADR have several common characteristics. However, one must consider that a neutral side in both procedures fulfils distinct from one another duties. Mediators do not have the objective to make decision, whereas arbitrators determine an outcome of the case. Upon the termination of the procedure, an arbiter renders a binding award that cannot be later avoided by disputants. During mediation, parties are not contingent upon the third side and enjoy freedom of actions needed for dispute resolution. In contrast, in case of failure to reach an agreement, parties are not legally bound for actions afterwards. By considering the true qualities of arbitration and mediation taken individually, legislation and scientists suggest that in single arbitration, arbitrators may use mediators’ functions to promote amicable settlement and functions of both arbitrators and mediators have incongruous

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