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The growth of online purchasing, often across borders, is increasing in tandem with the number of disputes. With the aim of increasing trust in e-commerce, the EU and the UN have acknowledged the need to promote redress mechanisms that are suited for this forum. Through his work in this area, Dr Pablo Cortés has assisted in the drafting of EU legislation that strengthens the rights of half a billion consumers in the EU by guaranteeing the availability and online access of quality alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms for settling contractual disputes between consumers and traders. The legislation, approved in 2013, ensures the availability of quality ADR schemes, which will be accessible to European complainants through an Online Dispute Resolution platform.
A far-reaching restructuring of publicly-funded employment dispute resolution agencies and programmes in Ireland has resulted from a series of research studies on the structure, conduct and performance of such agencies, and on employment dispute resolution within organisations. In particular, the studies:
Research undertaken at the University of Manchester (UoM) considers the use of mediation for citizen versus state disputes outside the context of the courts, and efforts to render an appeals system less adversarial. It focuses specifically upon dispute resolution concerning Special Educational Needs (SEN). SEN is an area of education decision making relevant to one in five children, in which there is an established right of appeal to a tribunal.
The research has impacted on both policy development and practice, in terms of both the guidance given to parents by the tribunal and proposed legislation providing for would-be appellants' compulsory engagement with the choice of mediation as an alternative to appealing.
The impact relates to research carried out by Professor John Peysner, and subsequently with Dr Angus Nurse, into three linked areas of access to justice: (a) the cost of litigation, in particular fixed fees, budgeting and contingency fees; (b) the financing of claims, in particular Contingency Legal Aid Funds and Third Party Financing; and (c) forms of dispute resolution and redress. Litigation is of major importance in underpinning civil society, and as a global business, and changes in the costs and financing of it will potentially impact on all practising lawyers. The research has had impact on practice developments, government policy, and statutory and procedural rules of court, particularly in connection with the influential Lord Justice Jackson's Review of Litigation Costs(2009). The impact has been at a national and international level.