Originially from: World Arbitration and Mediation Review (WAMR)

“Concitration”: The Ultimate Example of ADR
by Francesco Anchini,
President, CCIS
Part I. Introduction
Recently, the Cornell University/PERC Institute on Conflict Resolution
and Price Waterhouse announced the results of a survey on the use of alternative
dispute resolution (“ADR”) among one thousand of the largest U.S. corporations.
They found that the use of ADR is widespread among large U.S. corporations;
however, the survey also found that corporate users are more optimistic about the
future of mediation than traditional arbitration. In fact, the survey elicited two
kinds of responses: (1) those of in-house lawyers who complained of a lack of
judicialization of arbitration, (2) and those of the business community who saw
mediation as more likely to be subject to the control of the parties themselves than
arbitration and, therefore, more effective in producing settlements.1
Is there a growth in the use of mediation throughout the world? I would
say that the answer is affirmative in regard to the developed nations of North
America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom—where
mediation’s momentum is gaining ground.2 However, as a caveat, I would
mention that, in certain European circles, the ADR concept has been met with
more than a dose of skepticism. One writer has described the European reaction
as being rather “cool” to the concept of ADR, which “has been born out of
disenchantment with the costs and duration of the U.S. court system.”3
Disagreeing slightly with our friend, President Badinter, when he said that
arbitration is the most reasonable means of settling disputes between free citizens,