Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-tj2md Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T17:19:52.672Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Sen, justice and the private realm of dispute resolution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 December 2017

Debbie De Girolamo
Debbie De Girolamo*
Affiliation:
Queen Mary University of London, School of Law, Centre for Commercial Law Studies. E-mail: d.degirolamo@qmul.ac.uk.
*
d.degirolamo@qmul.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The attainment of justice through a private dispute-resolution process, such as the mediation process, is an elusive objective. With the prominent place mediation has been given in civil justice, debates about the ability of mediation to deliver substantive justice are relevant, particularly when proponents of the process argue that mediation offers some form of justice to its participants, while critics argue that it provides no justice. This paper explores the issue of justice in the private dispute-resolution process of mediation and its ability to deliver a substantive form of justice (rather than procedural or popular justice, which is often seen as the type of justice, if any, that is provided by mediation). It does so through an analysis of ethnographic data of the mediation process using Amartya Sen's justice framework set out in The Idea of Justice.

Type
Article
Information
International Journal of Law in Context , Volume 14 , Issue 3 , September 2018 , pp. 353 - 373
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

I am grateful for comments regarding various iterations of this paper from Carrie Menkel-Meadow, Sandra Brunnegger, Penelope Andrews, Ben Babcock and the anonymous reviewers for this journal.

References

Abel, Richard L. (1982) ‘The Contradictions of Informal Justice’ in Abel, Richard L. (ed.) The Politics of Informal Justice, Volume 1: The American Experience. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Blake, Susan, Browne, Julie and Sime, Stuart (2012) A Practical Approach to Alternative Dispute Resolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
De Girolamo, Debbie (2012) ‘Seeking Negotiated Order through Mediation: A Manifestation of Legal Culture?’, Journal of Comparative Law 5(2): 118.Google Scholar
De Girolamo, Debbie (2013) The Fugitive Identity of Mediation: Negotiations, Shift Changes and Allusionary Action. Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar
De Girolamo, Debbie (2016) ‘Rhetoric and Civil Justice: A Commentary on the Promotion of Mediation without Conviction in England and Wales’, Civil Justice Quarterly 35(2): 162.Google Scholar
De Palo, Giuseppe and Trevor, Mary B. (eds) (2012) EU Mediation Law and Practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Ewick, Patricia and Silbey, Susan S. (1992) ‘Conformity, Contestation, & Resistance: An Account of Legal Consciousness’, New England Law Review 26: 731.Google Scholar
Ewick, Patricia and Silbey, Susan S. (1998) The Common Place of Law. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Fiss, Owen (1984) ‘Against Settlement’, Yale Law Journal 93: 1073.Google Scholar
Fiss, Owen (2009) ‘History of an Idea’, Fordham Law Review 78: 1265.Google Scholar
Galanter, Marc S. (1974) ‘Why the Haves Come out Ahead: Speculations on the Limits of Legal Change’, Law and Society Review 9: 95.Google Scholar
Galanter, Marc S. (1983) ‘Reading the Landscape of Disputes: What We Know and Don't Know (and Think We Know) about Our Allegedly Contentious and Litigious Society’, UCLA Law Review 31: 4.Google Scholar
Geertz, Clifford (1973) The Interpretation of Culture. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Genn, Hazel (2010) Judging Civil Justice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Genn, Hazel (2012a) ‘What Is Civil Justice For? Reform, ADR, and Access to Justice’, Yale Journal of Law & Humanities 24: 397.Google Scholar
Genn, Hazel (2012b) ‘Why the Privatisation of Civil Justice is a Rule of Law Issue’, 36th F.A. Mann Lecture, Lincoln's Inn, 19 November 2012. Available at: <https://www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/judicial-institute/layout-components/36th_F_A_Mann_Lecture_19.11.12_Professor_Hazel_Genn.pdf> (accessed 6 November 2017).+(accessed+6+November+2017).>Google Scholar
Gulliver, Philip H. (1963/2000) Social Control in An African Society: A Study of the Arusha: Agricultural Masai of Northern Tanganyika. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Hanycz, Colleen M. (2004–2005) ‘Through the Looking Glass: Mediator Conceptions of Philosophy, Process and Power’, Alberta Law Review 42: 819.Google Scholar
Hanycz, Colleen M. (2008) ‘More Access to Less Justice: Efficiency, Proportionality and Costs in Canadian Civil Justice Reform’, Civil Justice Quarterly 27: 98.Google Scholar
Herrman, M.S. (ed.) (2006) The Blackwell Handbook of Mediation: Bridging Theory, Research and Practice. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Hoffman, Elizabeth A. (2003) ‘Legal Consciousness and Dispute Resolution: Different Disputing Behavior at Two Similar Taxicab Companies’, Law & Social Inquiry 28: 691.Google Scholar
Hollander-Blumoff, Rebecca and Tyler, Tom R. (2008) ‘Procedural Justice in Negotiation: Procedural Fairness, Outcome Acceptance, and Integrative Potential’, Law & Social Inquiry 33: 473.Google Scholar
Hyman, Jonathan M. and Love, Lela P. (2002) ‘If Portia Were a Mediator: An Inquiry into Justice in Mediation’, Clinical Law Review 9: 157.Google Scholar
Kovach, Kimberlee K. (2015) ‘The Mediation Coma: Purposeful or Problematic’, Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution 16: 755.Google Scholar
Lang, Michael and Taylor, Alison (2000) The Making of a Mediator: Developing Artistry in Practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Malinowski, Bronislaw (1922/1984) Argonauts of the Western Pacific. Long Grove: Waveland.Google Scholar
Merry, Sally Engle and Milner, N. (eds) (1993) The Possibility of Popular Justice: A Case Study of Community Mediation in the United States. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Moore, Christopher (1996) The Mediation Process: Practical Strategies for Resolving Conflict. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Nauss Exon, Susan (2006) ‘How Can a Mediator Be Both Impartial and Fair? Why Ethical Standards of Conduct Create Chaos for Mediators’, Journal of Dispute Resolution 2006: 387.Google Scholar
Nauss Exon, Susan (2007–2008) ‘The Effects that Mediator Styles Impose on Neutrality and Impartiality Requirements of Mediation’, USF Law Review 42: 577.Google Scholar
Nolan-Haley, Jacqueline (2015) ‘Mediation: The Best and Worst of Times’, Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution 16: 731.Google Scholar
Nolan-Haley, Jacqueline M. (2012) ‘Is Europe Headed Down the Primrose Path with Mandatory Mediation?’, North Carolina Journal of International Law & Commercial Regulation 37: 981.Google Scholar
Oberman, Susan (2005) ‘Mediation Theory vs. Practice: What Are We Really Doing? Re-Solving a Professional Conundrum’, Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution 20: 775.Google Scholar
Ojelabi, Lola Akin (2012) ‘Mediation and Justice: An Australian Perspective Using Rawls’ Categories of Procedural Justice’, Civil Justice Quarterly 31(3): 318.Google Scholar
Prince, Sue J. (2007) ‘Mandatory Mediation: The Ontario Experience’, Civil Justice Quarterly 26: 79.Google Scholar
Rawls, John (1971/2009) A Theory of Justice. Boston: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Roberts, Marian (2007) Developing the Craft of Mediation: Reflections on Theory and Practice. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.Google Scholar
Roberts, Simon (2009) ‘“Listing Concentrates the Mind”: The English Civil Court as an Arena for Structured Negotiation’, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 29: 457.Google Scholar
Roberts, Simon and Palmer, Michael (2005) Dispute Processes: ADR and the Primary Forms of Decision-Making. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Sen, Amartya (2009a) ‘Economics, Law and Ethics’ in Gotoh, Reiko and Dumouchel, Paul (eds) Against Injustice: The New Economics of Amartya Sen. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 39.Google Scholar
Sen, Amartya (2009b) The Idea of Justice. London: Penguin.Google Scholar
Sen, Amartya (2011) ‘Symposium on the Idea of Justice: A Reply’, Rutgers Law Journal 43: 317.Google Scholar
Sen, Amartya (2012) ‘Values and Justice’, Journal of Economic Methodology 19(2): 101.Google Scholar
Sen, Amartya (2013) ‘Ideas of Justice: A Reply’, Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 16(2): 305.Google Scholar
Sen, Amartya (2014) ‘A Response’, Jurisprudence 5(2): 385.Google Scholar
Shapira, Omer (2012) ‘Conceptions and Perceptions of Fairness in Mediation’, South Texas Law Review 54: 281.Google Scholar
Stulberg, Joseph B (2012) ‘Must a Mediator be Neutral? You'd Better Believe It!’, Marquette Law Review 95: 829.Google Scholar
Twining, William (2011) ‘Review Essay: Responding to Globalization by Rafael Domingo’, Osgoode Hall Law Journal 49: 353.Google Scholar
Welsh, Nancy A. (2001) ‘Making Deals in Court-Connected Mediation: What's Justice Got to Do with It?’, Washington University Law Quarterly 79: 787.Google Scholar