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Dispute resolution court order overview:
- Who: The Court of Appeal Civil Division of England and Wales has overturned a prior decision regarding dispute resolution outside of court.
- Why: The appellate court ruled judges are allowed to order parties to engage in dispute resolution outside of court.
- Where: The case is in the Court of Appeal Civil Division of England and Wales.
An appellate court in London has decided that judges are allowed to order parties to engage in dispute resolution outside of court.
The Court of Appeal Civil Division of England and Wales determined having to conduct dispute resolution outside of court does not place an unacceptable restraint on a parties right to access the court, reports Law360.
The appellate court reportedly ruled it is lawful to stop proceedings for an alternative dispute resolution so long as doing so does not impede a claimant’s right to receiving a fair trial and is done in a good faith effort to resolve the dispute fairly and quickly.
“The court can properly regulate its own procedure so as to stay proceedings or order the parties to proceedings to engage in any non-court-based dispute resolution process,” Judge Geoffrey Vos wrote,” as reported by Law360.
Court of Appeal ruling overturns prior decision made by deputy district judge
The Court of Appeal’s ruling comes in the wake of a nuisance complaint that was filed by an individual in July 2021 against the Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council for, according to a judgement, allowing Japanese knotweed to intrude on his land from its own, reports Law360.
The man, James Churchill of Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, according to the judgement, reportedly failed to use the county borough’s “Corporate Complaints Procedure” when trying to resolve the problem, causing the council to apply to prevent his complaint.
The Court of Appeal has ultimately now overturned a deputy district judge’s decision to deny the council’s application, while determining a court does have the authority to delay resolution for a claim to give the parties time to negotiate, whether they all want to or not, reports Law360.
The appellate court’s decision is reportedly backed by the Civil Justice Council and is consistent with Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which provides individuals the right to a fair trial — including the right of access to courts.
In other news involving an appeals court, the Competition Appeal Tribunal revived a £2.7 billion class action lawsuit earlier this year that is targeting five major banks over claims they engaged in cartel-like behaviour in an effort to rig the foreign exchange market for themselves.
Have you attempted to conduct dispute resolution outside of court? Let us know in the comments.
The plaintiff is represented by Robert Weir KC of Devereux Chambers and Tom Carter of 1 Hare Court, instructed by McDermott Smith Law Ltd.
The Dispute resolution case is Churchill v. Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council, Case No. CA-2022-001778, in the Court of Appeal Civil Division of England and Wales.
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