Online dispute resolution methods: state-of-the-art of its application and challenges

Abstract

Online dispute resolution methods (ODR) are an umbrella category that encompasses the application of technology to legal practice at different levels of complexity and automation. This article aims to provide an overview of scientific literature on the concept and modalities of ODR, its main practical applications and the challenges for its regulation. The method employed was literature review. Drawing on extensive review of national and international literature on the topic, it concludes that the two central modalities of ODR software are principal and instrument systems, the latter being subdivided into expert and support systems. ODR technologies foster scale savings in conflict resolution and add functionalities that elevate the quality of decision-making. The utility of ODR mechanisms goes beyond the scope of virtual consumerist relationships, their original domain of application, and expands into family, inheritance, administrative and intellectual property disputes. There is a movement of transnational regulation of ODR mechanisms by private entities, the European Union and the United Nations. The standardization of online dispute resolution methods by states is critical to ensuring that access to justice; procedural justice and material justice are met in ODR.