448 Chapter 17The resolution of business disputes
settlement of any dispute. Disadvantages are that the Codes of Practice are not always
enthusiastically enforced and that customers might feel that the arbitrator is not truly inde-
pendent. It is also the case that those who do not belong to the trade association in question
are outside the Codes of Practice altogether.
The Arbitration Act 1996 has introduced important new rules about arbitration. It states
that the purpose of arbitration is to obtain a fair resolution of disputes by an impartial
tribunal without unnecessary delay or expense. The Act also requires the arbitrator to deal
fairly with the parties and to allow them to present their case and deal with their opponent’s
case. Under the Act the parties to the arbitration must do everything necessary to allow the
arbitration to proceed properly and quickly. Before the Act came into force, it was common
for some parties to arbitration to delay matters by every possible means in the hope that this
would force the other side to either give up or settle the case.
Figure 17.5 shows an overview of arbitration.Mediation
When a dispute is referred to mediation, a mediator tries to help the parties to settle their
dispute. There are no set rules about how this should be done. The most common method
would probably be that the mediator asks the parties to put their case to each other in his
or her presence. The mediator might then get the parties to agree what the essential matters
in dispute were. Then the parties in dispute might go to different rooms and be visited in
turn by the mediator. The mediator would put forward the points of view of one party to
the other and suggest various compromises. Eventually, the parties might manage to reach
agreement with each other and settle the dispute. Many disputes which are not settled
during the mediation are settled soon afterwards.Figure 17.5An overview of arbitration