New book by Dr. Ihab Amro entitled ‘Online Arbitration in Theory and in Practice: A Comparative Study of Cross-Border Commercial Transactions in Common Law and Civil Law Countries’ now available. This book is based on post doctoral research conducted under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Tibor Varady, S.J.D. Harvard Law School.

From the publisher’s website:

“This book presents an overview of online arbitration and electronic contracting worldwide, examining their national and international contexts, and assessing their ongoing relevance. It offers solutions to the salient challenges facing both online arbitration and electronic contracting, dealing first–hand with online arbitration as an online dispute resolution technique for solving both traditional and electronic commerce disputes that may arise out of the breach of contractual obligations in international commercial contracts, while also comparing between common law and civil law countries.

In the theory of law, this book analyses the international legal framework that regulates e–commerce, and its impact on electronic contracting, including Model Laws and International Conventions such as the Model Law on Electronic Commerce of 1996 and the Electronic Communications Convention of 2005. It also investigates whether the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods of 1980 ‘The CISG’ applies to e–commerce contracts. In addition, it extensively examines the possibility for the enforcement of online arbitration agreements and online arbitral awards under the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards of 1958.

Regarding the practice of law, the volume examines how national courts apply both national laws and the New York Convention of 1958 when dealing with the enforcement of online arbitration agreements, and whether courts apply the provisions of national laws of arbitration liberally. As such, it encourages the adoption of a more liberal judicial regime in favour of the enforcement of online arbitral awards and online arbitration agreements in national courts.

This book represents a valuable resource for academics, arbitrators, practicing lawyers, corporate counsels, law students, researchers, and professionals who are willing to solve their cross–border commercial disputes through online arbitration.”

Learn more: Online Arbitration in Theory and in Practice

Vilnius University is taking part in the Pan-European scientific research and development project Conflict Resolution with Equitative Algorithms | CREA. The project is partly financed by the European Commission. More information is available on internet

Vilnius University and Vrije Universiteit Brussel are happy to invite you to an international seminar where interim findings and results of the CREA project will be presented and other cutting-edge topics of state of play and challenges of algorithmisation of dispute resolution will be debated.

Participation in the seminar is free of charge. Participants are expected to register in advance online, cover their costs of travel and accommodation. We kindly ask you to register online for the event until 21 January 2019 COB at filling the registration form. Due to limited capacity of conference room, participants will be admitted on first come (first registered) basis. Successful registration online shall be regarded as confirmation of admission. Online registration will be stopped when capacity limit will be reached.

Program is here

International Seminar
Algorithmisation of Dispute Resolution
Date: 29th January 2019 (Tuesday)
Time: 9:00 – 17:30 EET
Venue: Vilnius University’s Scholarly Communication and Information Centre (SCIC),
Saulėtekio al. 5, Vilnius, Lithuania
Language: English

Program is here.

The Pew Trusts just released a new fact sheet on ODR in the courts.  An excerpt:

“Existing digital technologies could provide part of the solution and increase people’s remote access to the courts. In particular, online dispute resolution (ODR) is an electronic tool already in use in the private sector that helps resolve disagreements between consumers and online retailers. Major online retailers and auction sites use ODR to settle more than 60 million disputes a year, with 90 percent of financial cases resolved without the engagement of a judge or mediator. Early research suggests that when applied in a court context, these innovations could make legal processes more efficient and provide hundreds of thousands of Americans with an alternative way to resolve legal issues—especially high-volume cases that clog the courts. However, more study is needed to address concerns raised by some stakeholders about whether and how well the private-sector success of ODR will translate into policy and ultimately the practice of law.”

Read more here.  A PDF version is also available.