ARBITRATION

Arbitration is where parties to a dispute agree to resolve it outside the court system by referring it to an agreed-upon person (the 'arbitrator' or 'adjudicator') by whose decision they agree to be bound.  The parties can agree that an arbitrator's decisions can be enforced through the court system as if they were a court judgment.

Arbitration has a number of very great advantages over the court system:

• faster
• less expensive
• can be scheduled outside of standard court hours or days

The parties to the dispute play a role in designing how the arbitration will be conducted: how complex or simple it will be; what types of evidence will or won't be admissible or used; whether the matter will be done face-to-face or only through documents.

An arbitrator's decision cannot be appealed as easily as a judge's decision can, so it is harder for one party to drag things out if they do not like the result.  Court rules are designed to make the court system run, they are not designed to make things as easy as possible for you.  Arbitration solves that problem.

Please note that the definitions given in these pages are greatly simplified and are not terms of art or definitive.  They are intended to give the website visitor a short overview of the concepts involved and the services provided by Camberwell House.