Heading towards online dispute resolution in the Slovak Republic

The paper highlights the various aspects of the electronisation of judicial and extra-judicial dispute resolution in the Slovak Republic. The author concludes that arbitration as a form of dispute settlement process may take an electronic form in Slovakia, with the exception of issuing the arbitration decisions which must always take a paper form – for the sake of legal certainty. An alternative dispute resolution in consumer disputes, taking the form of mediation is a novelty in Slovakia and was only introduced in 2016, under the respective EU Regulation. This also foresaw an electronic platform to facilitate online cross-border consumer dispute resolution. Finally, the recently introduced new rules on civil judicial procedure in Slovakia (1st July 2016) also brought about some enhancements with regard to electronisation of dispute resolution. In addition to the possibilities of filing electronic submissions, hearings can also take place with the use of electronic means; public notices must be published on a website of a court or relevant authority and the delivery of court documents was also widely electronised based on a recent Act on e-Government

Transnational Consumer Law: Co-Regulation of B2C-E-Commerce

The nation states provide workable contract enforcement institutions for domestic commerce. Due to a lack of international cooperation the same does not hold true when it comes to cross-border situations. Thus, the institutional organization of international commerce is characterized by its reliance on private ordering or private legal services. Many believe that the emergence of a New Law Merchant can be observed in international commercial arbitration. This trend towards the privatization of commercial law, however, is believed to be limited to the sphere of corporate actors or merchants. When it comes to the protection of weaker contract parties like consumers, self-regulation is not held to be a viable option. In fact, consumers do shop increasingly across borders when engaging in e-commerce, often without noticing. The 1999 OECD Guidelines proposed to tackle the resulting consumer protection concerns by means of co-regulation. In this article, I intend to examine the potential role of private ordering and co-regulation in the area of cross-border consumer contracts. I start with a survey of the different mechanisms of private ordering, which have developed in e-commerce. This illustrates that electronic market places fulfil an essential role in bundling different means of private ordering into what I call transnational civil regimes for consumer protection. Finally, I aim at demonstrating how states, industry, and civil society actors can jointly contribute to the establishment of a civil constitution for such regimes

Procedural justice for procedures at intermediary internet platforms

Bemiddelingsplatformen als eBay hebben procedures om geschillen tussen afnemers en aanbieders op te lossen. Dergelijke procedures lijken op gewone geschilbeslechting, maar voldoen niet in alle opzichten aan de reguliere eisen die aan ADR of gerechtelijke procedures worden gesteld. Dit artikel onderzoekt wat de kenmerken zijn van zulke procedures, welke kritiek erop wordt geleverd in de praktijk, of de beginselen van procedurele rechtvaardigheid zoals besloten in art. 6 EVRM hierop van toepassing zijn, en welke procedurele vereisten gesteld zouden moeten worden

Transnational Consumer Law: Co-Regulation of B2C-E-Commerce

The nation states provide workable contract enforcement institutions for domestic commerce. Due to a lack of international cooperation the same does not hold true when it comes to cross-border situations. Thus, the institutional organization of international commerce is characterized by its reliance on private ordering or private legal services. Many believe that the emergence of a New Law Merchant can be observed in international commercial arbitration. This trend towards the privatization of commercial law, however, is believed to be limited to the sphere of corporate actors or merchants. When it comes to the protection of weaker contract parties like consumers, self-regulation is not held to be a viable option. In fact, consumers do shop increasingly across borders when engaging in e-commerce, often without noticing. The 1999 OECD Guidelines proposed to tackle the resulting consumer protection concerns by means of co-regulation. In this article, I intend to examine the potential role of private ordering and co-regulation in the area of cross-border consumer contracts. I start with a survey of the different mechanisms of private ordering, which have developed in e-commerce. This illustrates that electronic market places fulfil an essential role in bundling different means of private ordering into what I call transnational civil regimes for consumer protection. Finally, I aim at demonstrating how states, industry, and civil society actors can jointly contribute to the establishment of a civil constitution for such regimes

Legitimacy and the virtualization of dispute resolution

FDR Procesrecht en mediation -- ou

Pienten asioiden sähköinen menettely : mallin edut ja haitat suomalaisessa siviiliprosessissa

Tutkielmani tarkoituksena on muodostaa pienten asioiden sähköisen menettelyn malli Kanadassa ja Yhdysvalloissa käyttöön otettujen sähköisten tuomioistuinmenettelyiden pohjalta sekä pohtia mallin sopivuutta suomalaiseen oikeusjärjestykseen. Tavoitteena on ensinnäkin selvittää, voisiko pienten asioiden sähköinen menettely olla siirrettävissä suomalaisiin tuomioistuimiin. Lisäksi tarkastellaan, mitä hyötyjä ja haittoja mallista olisi oikeudenmukaisen oikeudenkäynnin toteutumiselle. Pienten asioiden sähköinen menettely on neliportainen kombinaatiomalli, jonka peräkkäiset vaiheet ovat arviointi, neuvottelu, sovittelu ja oikeudenkäynti. Kyseessä on verkkovälitteinen riidanratkaisumekanismi, jonka kaikki vaiheet ja niihin liittyvä kommunikaatio on keskitetty verkkoalustalle. Mallin merkittävin ero perinteiseen oikeudenkäyntiin on, että menettely alkaa jo ennen asian vireilletuloa tuomioistuimessa. Menettelyn ensimmäisessä portaassa yksinkertaista tekoälyä hyödyntävä arviointityökalu tarjoaa kansalaisille ilmaista oikeudellista neuvontaa. Tuomioistuimen tehtävät laajentuvat informointiin ja konfliktien ennaltaehkäisyyn. Tutkielmassa havaitaan, että tuomioistuimen uusien tehtävien hyväksyttävyyden puolesta puhuu useampi siviiliprosessille asetettu tavoite: markkinoiden vaatimuksiin sopeutuminen, ihmisten käyttäytymistä ohjaavaa vaikutus ja yhteiskuntarauhan ylläpitäminen. Lisäämällä ihmisten tietoa heidän oikeuksistaan riidat tuomioistuimissa eivät lisäänny, vaan ne vähenevät koko yhteiskunnan tasolla. Kääntämällä katseen oikeudellistuneista riidoista konflikteihin, tuomioistuimet voivat järjestää oikeudenhoidon tasapainoisemmalla tavalla siten, että voimavarat riittävät paitsi pienten asioiden myös laajojen ja monimutkaisten riitojen ratkaisemiseen. Lisäksi tutkielmassa havaitaan, että malli voisi edistää oikeudenmukaisen oikeudenkäynnin toteutumista erityisesti parantamalla tuomioistuinten saavutettavuutta. Käyttäjälähtöisyyden ansiosta menettely voisi olla tarkoituksenmukainen paitsi tuomioistuimelle myös asianosaisille. Pienet riita-asiat eivät enää jäisi laajojen riitojen jalkoihin, vaan niitä voitaisiin ratkaista pienille asioille suunnitellussa menettelyssä. Menettelyn potentiaalinen heikkous on kuitenkin menettelyllisten oikeuksien heikentyminen. Tuomioistuimeen pääsy ei takaa välttämättä oikeuksiin pääsyä. Pienten asioiden sähköisen menettelyn vaarana on, että käyttäjäystävällisestä oikeudesta ja tuomioistuimen paremmasta saavutettavuudesta tehdään kulissi, jonka taakse kätketään oikeussuojatakeiltaan heikkoa tukkukauppaoikeutta

General Principles of Consumer Protection in E-Commerce Trade: A Comparative Study between Islamic Law and EU Laws

This thesis presents the concept of Sharia law and contrasts it with EU laws in the area of e-consumer protection. These two laws have been chosen as they are exercised in more than one country and do not develop their own juridical procedures other than the Common law. The overriding objective of this thesis is to examine the extent to which European Union laws are different from legislations that are influenced by certain principles of Sharia. In order to achieve the aforementioned objective, this thesis approached a number of main issues, namely: the effectiveness of EU legislation in protecting and safeguarding e-consumer rights, the efficiency of Sharia law in protecting and safeguarding e-consumer rights, and highlighting the essential differences between EU legislation and Sharia law in protecting and safeguarding e-consumer rights. The significance of this research lies in the fact that it rationalizes the changes and developments that have so far taken place in the two jurisdictions which dominate significant portions of the world and yet arise from completely different origins. The thesis identified certain procedures in the Sharia that secure the interest of consumers. In this regard, the concept of “Khiyar-al-Tadlis” is well-established in Sharia law and cannot be found in EU laws and, as a consequence, is highly recommended for e-consumer protection. Moreover, the choice-of-law conflict creates deficits in legal applications and the availability of security procedures for e-consumers. EU laws are significantly lacking when it comes to protection of online consumers across borders. This thesis focuses, specifically, on the recovery measures that both the EU and the Sharia law provide for e-consumers if they suffer any loss as a result of an online transaction and enable them to gain justified compensation. The study aims to provide policymakers with effective measures for preserving the rights of e-consumers and therefore promote electronic trade across different countries. Finally, this thesis will address the current inefficient aspects of e-consumer protection in both Sharia and EU laws and will attempt to propose a solution under which the rights of all concerned parties can be balanced

Internet dispute resolution.

PhDThis thesis develops a model for the fair resolution of internet disputes. The internet has the potential to lead to international~ cross-border disputes being a powerful communications medium, that allows data exchanges in various media formats between a wide range of different users situated in distant locations. It explores the meaning of fairness for the resolution of such disputes. This thesis refers to the existing literature examining the private international law issues arising from cross-border interactions and transactions on the internet which make litigation and enforcement more costly and lengthy. For many disputes arising on the internet, alternative ways of resolving such disputes have to be found. This thesis contains a detailed exploration of the use of mediation and arbitration, using online technology. obviating the need for the parties and lawyers to meet face-to-face and leading to more efficient information processing, and thereby reducing cost and delay in dispute resolution. Binding dispute resolution and enforceability in cross-border cases are important for internet disputes and can be provided by online arbitration. Therefore, this thesis proceeds to examines in great detail the legal issues surrounding online arbitration. It looks at questions of due process in arbitration and covers the legal issues surrounding business-to-consumer arbitration comparing the European approach to that in the us. The thesis contains a detailed analysis of the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Procedure (UDRP) and considers to what extent the dispute resolution model established by the UDRP could or should sene as a model for other types of internet disputes. The conclusion from this examination of all aspects of internet dispute resolution is a model of dispute resolution. which encourages the use of online arbitration for internet disputes but, where there exists a substantial power imbalance between the disputants (such as the traditional business-to-consumer paradigm), subjects traditional commercial arbitration to more stringent due process standards for disputes