NCJ Number
91481
Date Published
1982
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This paper examines progress in some Federal approaches to alternative forms of dispute settlement, such as arbitration and neighborhood justice centers.
Abstract
A bill was sent to Congress last year which detailed the establishment of a Federal arbitration experiment. With the permission of Congress, an experiment has been planned for three Federal districts (Connecticut, the eastern district of Pennsylvania, and the northern district of California). The criteria for submitting cases to arbitration are that they involve only money damages; they are for claims under $100,000; and they involve primarily factual issues rather than complex legal questions or constitutional claims. It is the plan that in the experimental districts, the negotiable instruments of contracts for personal injury or property damage based on the Federal issue of diversity or admiralty jurisdiction will be automatically referred to arbitration, with noted exceptions. Also, the Justice Department has been working with the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration in funding three neighborhood justice centers. The objective of the center programs is to develop an inexpensive, expeditious alternative to the formal court system. The centers are being used for interpersonal disputes, which often involve friends or family, as well as more formal conflicts, such as landlord-tenant, employer-employee, and seller-buyer. The centers are located in neighborhoods rather than courthouses. Typically, the centers have a director and four or five full - time employees together with a panel of about 30 members from the community who have been recruited to serve as mediators on a case by case basis. Some examples of cases that have been handled in the centers are described, and some of the legal and ethical issues raised by informal dispute centers are identified.