Summary
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The book consists of ten essays, two each by the editors, and the remainder by academics, solicitors, and dispute resolution practitioners, each looking to a specific question or area of practice. Susan Moody begins the process with an overview of alternative dispute resolution focusing on party control of the processes, defining the basic terms, and discussing briefly some of the factors in the availability and usefulness of these techniques for the public. Robert Mackay follows with a discussion of ADR and criminal justice, focusing primarily on restorative justice, where he was a pioneer, but also addressing some of the collateral uses and consequences of such processes. Susan Mathieson of Family Mediation Scotland provides a tight essay which describes the mediation processes in use in family matters in Scotland and also addresses many of the practical issues in mediation's use in this area. The next four papers deal with the use of ADR in commercial and public settings. W. Cowan Ervine, Mungo Deans, and Michael Tooze, colleagues of the editors at the University of Dundee, look, in turn, at the use of ADR in consumer disputes, ADR and public law, and ADR in employment disputes. Gordon Hollerin, a solicitor and mediator, addresses its use in commercial issues. The final three chapters address general issues in the implementation of ADR in Scotland. Neil Davidson, best known as an international arbitrator but also active as a mediator, discusses questions of confidentiality and privilege, while the editors return with an essay by Moody on the place of lawyers in ADR and a look to the future of ADR by Robert Mackay. Also included are a glossary and select bibliography.
