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Prof Hörnle's research into Online Dispute Resolution has had a clear impact in government policies and the drafting of legislation at international level (UNCITRAL, Organization of American States (OAS)), EU level and UK level. ODR is an extremely new field (only 10-12 years' old) and there is little expertise in the area among lawyers, government and other policymakers. The underpinning research in this case examines how cross-border commercial and consumer disputes can be solved using internet technology as an alternative to national courts. Building on existing research on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), the research examined how ADR can be applied specifically in an online context and has had a significant impact on legal practitioners, policy makers and governments. This is a new field of research, and the work has been used by the European Commission to draft the first European legislation on Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) and has informed the approach taken by policy-makers in the UK to implementing this legislation. It has also critically shaped the discussion of ODR in international, regional and national organisations.
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.