In 2015 Darin Thompson asked a provocative question: “Are the courts sustainable?” In this interview, he explains what leads him to ask this question and talks about alternatives that are more suited to modern dispute resolution and the needs of citizens to access speedy and affordable justice.
Darin describes himself as a “justice innovation enthusiast” and works with Shannon Salter on the Civil Resolution Tribunal in Canada. He also has some disruptive ideas about justice, empowerment and the need for change in how we approach disputes. In this interview he gives some more detail on how the Tribunal works and into the thinking that went into its design.
Reflective Questions:
1. Both Shannon Salter and Darin Thompson emphasise the foundation of self-help and empowerment that the CRT is built on. Darin Thompson talks about simple tools like calculators to help deal with payment arrears and simple template letters – something many of us don’t give a second thought to but can be an insurmountable barrier for others trying to access justice. What other simple tools and strategies can you think of that might help in easing access to justice and resolution in your community? Share your ideas with your peers.
2. Darin Thompson addresses the question of whether dispute resolution processes should be mandatory or voluntary. This debate is familiar in the mediation community. What do you think about what he says? Can making a process or platform so user friendly that people will want to use it work or will they default to methods they have always used, such as going to their lawyer?
Activities:
Over this series of posts our experts have presented a number of different ODR platforms and services to us. Draw up a list of similarities and differences between the different platforms. Review this and see if you can identify which factors might have contributed to the platforms that have proved to be successful.
Further Resources
Darin Thompson’s recent work. Along with the CRT, has focused on “Knowledge Engineering”. To find our more about this process and how it works, you can read a step by step guide on his website http://darinthompson.ca/knowledge-engineering/knowledge-engineering-start-to-finish/introduction-to-knowledge-engineering/
This article from the Open Justice Initiative gives some fascinating insight on current access to justice problems throughout the world, and how even small amounts of data can help empower disputants, as Darin Thompson proposes. https://www.justiceinitiative.org/voices/how-small-data-can-improve-access-justice-poor
This recent report on how technology is being used to support legal empowerment will inspire ideas that everyone in the system can help implement. https://www.theengineroom.org/tech-and-legal-empowerment-around-the-world/
Resources for Undergraduate and Postgraduate Law Students
Mediator Academy’s mission is to provide access to the very best educational resources and thought leaders in dispute resolution to everyone on the planet. We’ve come a long way since our original long-form video interviews (over 1000 were produced) to where we are today with adaptive online lessons and modules. In light of the current challenges that law students and faculty face we are re-engineering some of the richest video interviews from our archives and sharing these resources with you to be used as teaching aids until normal service is resumed. We hope you find them useful.
Darin Thompson
Also publishes a very cool CPD Podcasting Show. Details in the link below.
Leave a Reply