Expanding the Shadow of the Law: Designing Efficient Judicial Dispute Resolution Systems in a Digital World—An Empirical Investigation

New post on the Oxford Business Law Blog by Horst Eidenmüller (Statutory Professor for Commercial Law at the University of Oxford), Kathrin Eidenmüller (Judge, Munich Court of Appeals and former Academic Visitor to the Institute of European and Comparative Law (IECL) at the University of Oxford), and Conor McLaughlin (Barrister, Erskine Chambers, London).

The blog presents the results of an empirical study on the design of efficient judicial dispute resolution systems for business-to-business (B2B) commercial disputes in a digital world. The empirical study is based on the findings from 24 structured interviews with senior legal practitioners and business leaders and an online survey that generated 275 responses from professionals worldwide. The authors argue that courts are, and will continue to be, a cornerstone of the civil justice architecture, including in B2B disputes. States must not 'outsource' the provision of dispute resolution services to private providers but should digitalize the judicial processes and use AI tools to improve their efficiency. Providing user-friendly and reliable digital and AI tools for information management and analysis, communication and decision-making is key, as are clear protocols for online hearings. But the authors find that disputing parties do not want to be judged by machines. Rather, they request competent and specialized human decision-makers, and efficient planning and case management.

You can read the full blog post on the OBLB site.