Critics argue informal ADR proceedings disadvantage poor disputants lacking procedural safeguards
Evidence
Nonetheless, ADR has its critics. They observe that some of the claims for ADR seem contradictory: Can it really promote greater access to justice and, at the same time, reduce the demands on the courts? Beyond this, critics claim that ADR is a class-based reform that shunts the disputes of the average citizen to lesser tribunals, reserving the courts for the concerns and disputes of the elite. Furthermore, critics argue that because ADR emphasizes compromise and accommodation, it disarms victims of injustice who insist on the full vindication of their rights. In fact, ADR’s emphasis on informal proceedings tends to reinforce unequal power relations by denying to poor and disadvantaged members of society the due process protections of court proceedings and the equalizing assistance of representation by a lawyer. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1176
Categorization
- DEFINE: Articulates the core critical argument against ADR that recurs throughout civil justice scholarship: informality can cut against due process for the disadvantaged.
- XREF: Directly relevant to civil procedure and due process themes in the reader’s course; echoes points about adjudication’s equalizing function. — connects to: Critics argue the American civil justice system encourages excessive and wasteful litigation — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1127; Ad hoc adjudication breaks litigant participation and undermines its legitimacy — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 3312; ADR’s informal, compromise-oriented proceedings can reinforce unequal power relations between disputants. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 2363 (+1 more)
Broader Connections
- ADR’s informal, compromise-oriented proceedings can reinforce unequal power relations between disputants.
#corroborates(0.95) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 2363 - Formal legal procedure protects minorities better than informal deliberation does
#corroborates(0.82) — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up, 549 - Ad hoc adjudication breaks litigant participation and undermines its legitimacy
#corroborates(0.78) — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process, 3312