By: GABRIEL ‘FEMI ADEWARA, MCArb
“The future is already here – it is just not very evenly distributed yet’ – William Gibson (Renowned Science Fiction Writer)
The increasing level of commercial, infrastructure, and natural resource-based development and contractual activities holds true for Nigeria as an industrializing, modern nation-state, making disputes come within earshot. For these factors, conflict or dispute is often, ironically, referred to as ‘a growth industry’! Mercifully, dispute resolution is made far easier when aided by ‘New Technologies’ (NTs).
NTs in play enables seamless settlement of disputes. Most NTs are web-based, significantly increasing ADR Practitioners’ ‘immersion in technology, giving rise to new ADR mechanisms, mainly, of Technology-Mediated Dispute Resolution’ (‘TMDR’) otherwise known as Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) and Hybrid ADR Mechanisms (HADR) such as Med-Arb; Arb-Med, Arb-Med-Arb, etc. The focus here is on the readiness of Nigeria’s arbitral community to plug and play TMDR. Nevertheless, how HADR is further enabled by TMDR would be apparent. It is recommended that Nigeria not lag behind the growing worldwide mood for justice through ADR on the wheels of technology in hybrid formats.
TMDR/ODR is the use of information or web-based technologies such as emails, online chat, video conferencing (including 360 Degrees Camera/Three-dimensional form being tagged ‘Telemmersion’) and other bourgeoning forms of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) like telephones, iPads, etc, to facilitate dispute resolution in both traditional judicial proceedings and ADR. TMDR is now being deployed to resolve various disputes. It is naturally helpful to ADR, which is mostly court-linked, one way or the other, worldwide.
Benefits derivable from TMDR surround meeting the needs/demands of the consumers of justice-deliverables. The broad spectrum of ideas in digital, online-based dispute resolution enables judges/mediators/arbitrators or law firms to review documents digitally and communicate with the parties/disputants electronically seamlessly. The benefits are legion, while the challenges are easily managed by innovation or new inventions popping up to smoothen the rough edges, such as the ‘Telemmersion’ for virtual hearings. In managing the challenges, ’Telemmersion’, for instance, aids the Judge/ADR professional in, adequately assessing a witness’s credibility, as if the witness were in the physical witness box right before the judge/adjudicator.
Many forms of TMDR exist, including online versions of negotiation (automated and assisted), Mediation, Arbitration, case appraisal, complaints handling (especially in consumer-related disputes), HADR and Courts. The Singapore Mediation Convention, 2020 (SMC), coming into force can be seen as a derivative of TMDR’s promises/possibilities. SMC tacitly rests on the technical possibilities of the worldwide web by its openness to the institution of hybrid processes, unified worldwide.
Thus, the contemporary mood in dispute resolution is to leverage technology for a broader range of processes than just one/mono-process by combining different mechanisms for the immense benefits derivable. The clincher, for evidence of the growing use of the hybrid mechanisms in IP dispute resolution, for instance, is in the clearly established vast improvement in the rate of settlement from above 70% when Mediation on its own is used to above 80% when it is combined with Arbitration.
TMDR’S BECOMING PLUG AND PLAY WORLDWIDE: NIGERIA’S READINESS
TMDR platform assures timely redress/resolution of any problem/issue arising from the usage of what is known as ‘Information Society Services (ISS}. These comprise mainly of e-communication, e-commerce, e-banking and e-payment. Thus, ISS/TMDR unite all of humanity in what may be referred to as the new ‘e-consumerism’, which brings everybody together as voracious consumers of technology, thereby needing technology-aided dispute resolution, whether as artificial (corporate) or natural persons.
TMDR’s relevance is ramifying in the entire span of dispute resolution (including the traditional court system) and eliminates rigours of long-distance travel for those involved in small, monetary claims and commercial/e-commerce disputes. Hence, countries are striving for justice-delivery on the wheels of TMDR in hybrid formats.
Many jurisdictions have concluded that adopting TMDR-related initiatives for judicial/adjudicatory (ADR) processes is a worthwhile project. Such initiatives hinge on institutionalization/standardization. Nigeria needs to take cues from those initiatives to plug and play TMDR
To deliberate further, and get more enlightened on this exciting topic, kindly click on the link below to register for the forthcoming 2021 NICArb Hybrid Annual Conference, themed: “Disruption and the New Normal in Arbitration/ADR in Africa: A Way Forward.”
https://forms.gle/eW4HUjPim74jbtvv8
Date: Thursday, 18th -19th November 2021
Time: 10:00am – 4:00pm
Venue: Eko Hotel and Suites/Whova Platform.
For advert bookings and Reservation, kindly contact Tolani on 09087187407 or Peace on 09087187408
