NCJ Number
89393
Journal
Justice System Journal Volume: 7 Issue: 3 Dated: (Winter 1982) Pages: 420-444
Date Published
1982
Length
27 pages
Annotation
This article reviews the most rigorous evaluation data available to date on the effectiveness of mediation and arbitration in achieving a broad range of objectives.
Abstract
The studies show that while mediation and arbitration programs fail to achieve many of the performance goals related to court congestion and cost savings, they consistently rate very favorably on measures of user satisfaction, perceptions of fairness, compliance with outcomes and, in most cases, reduced levels of relitigation. Compared with their voluntary counterparts, mandatory mediation and arbitration programs come closer to succeeding (and in some cases do succeed) in reducing court congestion and achieving public cost savings too. In the last decade, there has been a resurgence of interest in alternatives to adjudication. Numerous mediation and court-annexed arbitration programs have been initiated. Many goals have been posited for such programs, including the judicial objectives of reducing court backlogs, and achieving savings in time and money as well as increasing disputants' access to, and quality of, justice. (Author abstract)