Restitution of cultural property has always been primarily an affair of the State, with each State actor claiming sovereignty or ownership over significant cultural property. Traditionally, it is from this angle that this issue is addressed, as matter of straightforward law. In order to resolve such disputes, court litigation may be an appropriate option, particularly when the parties are uncooperative, or a precedent is required. However, increasingly, circumstances arise where in light of the complexity of the subject matter, the emergence of new actors in restitution claims, specific limitation periods and the non-retroactive nature of international instruments, court litigation can no longer always provide for the most efficient and effective dispute resolution medium. Instead, …show more content…
The art world is a unique environment that places much reliance on confidentiality and close personal relationships, and therefore ethics, grey letter law, and soft codes play a very important role. As a result, the process of ADR is better suited for the art world and cultural property disputes compared to litigation, because it is primarily focused on the concepts of voluntariness and party autonomy. ADR is generally cheaper and quicker than litigation. This view was expressed for example in the English case of Tavoulareas v Lau, which demonstrates the disadvantages of litigation in the field of cultural property. The judge stated in that case:
“The first extraordinary aspect of this bitterly-fought litigation is that the claimant has spent some £60,000 on it to date, the defendants £25,000; £85,000 in all, over a claim worth at most £23,500. Now, litigation must be fun if the parties are prepared to spend that much on a rollercoaster ride to judgment without pausing, either of them, to suggest that mediation would be a more sensible way to resolve their
Historic treasures and artifacts are often donated to or purchased by other nations to place in their museums. Often museums are given the objects with full cooperation from the originating country, but sometimes they are stolen or given for protection such as in a time of war. When nations want the artifacts returned it can cause a disagreement with the other nations of who the rightful owner is.
These mediation proceedings are not conducted under oath, do not follow traditional rules of evidence and are not limited to developing the facts. Mediators are expected to draw out the parties' perceptions and feelings about the events that have brought them into conflict. It also encourages parties to acknowledge
In the last decades, the repatriation of art and cultural heritage has become a controversial issue. This issue has received great attention from the public, international law and the press. Should cultural object taken by a country or nation remain with that country or should it repatriated? Art repatriation refers to the returning of cultural artifact to their original owners. (Roehrenbeck,2010). Cultural treasures represent the civilization of a nation or group of people which reflect the religions, values and ideologies. (Zhong,2014)
A 27year old African American man pled guilty and was convicted on five counts of common law burglary. He was sentenced to death in accordance with Alabama state law. The prosecution presented the eyewitness accounts of the events and the petitioner did not testify. The defendant did not testify on his behalf, nor did counsel present his case. The judge accepted the guilty plea without any confirmation from the defendant concerning his voluntariness of his guilty plea or its consequences.
The Plaintiff is claiming $35 million from the State of NSW, which is purported to be vicariously liable for the Land and Environment Court and Pain J [1]. This claim includes nullifying Pain J’s judgment [14], and it is accompanied by Motions to uphold Lloyd J’s dismissal and refund the Plaintiff’s filing fees [2].
Disputes between individuals can be resolved through mediation, tribunals and courts are sought depending on the complexity and nature of the dispute. Their effectiveness in achieving justice for and between individuals to varying extents will be assessed by their ability to uphold notions of fairness, equality, access, timeliness, enforceability and resource efficiency.
Before going to trial, the parties meet, with their attorneys to represent them, to try to resolve their dispute without the involvement of a third party. This is
Fells (2016, p. 211) wrote “ just as a doctor works to bring a person back to health, so too a mediator works to bring a deadlocked negotiation back to a situation where the parties can reach agreement”. This essay discusses this statement with reference to contemporary research on dispute resolution. In order to comprehend how this is achieved, we must consider the essence of mediation, the different types of mediation and what mediators do. Negotiation and mediation are process used to resolve opposing preferences between parties. Negotiation is defined in Fells (2016, p. 3) as “a process by which two parties with differences that they need to resolve try to reach agreement through
The issue of artifacts that have been taken from their original homes has started some global debate. Some may say that the artifacts need to be returned to their place of origin or who found them. They may also say that there are laws saying that the artifacts should be returned. Others may say that no matter who the objects belong to the artifacts should remain in museums around the world. Artifacts should not be returned to their nations of origins.
Small claims court was established as an alternative dispute resolution forum. It is less expensive, faster and less formal than litigation. The increase in the jurisdictional limitations of Small Claims Courts have contributed to increase the caseloads in Small Claims, the popularity of the TV shows such as Judge Judy or Judge Brown also contributed to the caseload and peoples automatic action to fill cases. In order to clear the backlogs, in 1999 after a year of testing, Alberta Justice Minister of Alberta David Hancock made mediation a permanent part of the provincial civil court division. Based on the report, mediation helped to speed up the process. Cases were going to mediation within 5 weeks instead of 6 months just to get a court date. Alberta still incorporates mediation in their civil courts. Parties can choose to go to mediation or the courts can decide for them if they see fit. In 2004, research done in the U.K regarding mediation in Small Claims Court also indicated there is an increase satisfaction for parties and maximised efficiency in the use of judicial resources. What is the difference between Small Claims and Mediation? How would mediation help Small Claims Court? What are the limitations of such action? Are a few of the question that will be answered in this paper.
However, there are a few occasions where, because of the excessive entanglement between the individuals and resulting personal emotions, settlements are much harder to reach. Judge Sokoloff shined and used her art of mediation and influencing here, effectively allowing the parties before her to compromise. I was surprised by her very efficient and very effective use of the mediation tactic; so much so, that it has in fact influenced me a great deal. Firstly, the experience showed me the importance of mediation, and its efficiency within the legal process. Secondly, the experience instilled in me the importance of a legal practitioner’s temperament, and the effect that it can have on the judicial process. Thirdly, and probably the most impacting of the points was, the experience allowed me to realize that I was not as far off in my understanding of the legal field as I initially believed, rather intellectually I was able to relate to many of the
This essay will provide a detailed examination of what Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is, particularly mediation, the various techniques of ADR, the advantages and disadvantages of ADR; and whether or not courts should have the authority to compel individuals into undertaking mediation or other forms of ADR. This essay argues against courts having the power to compel litigants into mediation but may be afforded powers to encourage parties to go through mediation at first instance. This essay will base its arguments on whether courts should compel civil litigants to follow the ADR route upon the perceived advantages of ADR and its success rate. The contention of this essay is not that mediation is inappropriately used to settle
Whether or not disputants reach an agreement, the mediation approach offers a safe place where no one need feel embarrassed” (Griffin, 2009).
Throughout the years there has been many definitions of mediation. Nevertheless one the most acceptable definition of mediation refers to this procedure as a “…process in which the participants, with the support of a mediator, identify issues, develop options, consider alternatives and make decisions about future actions…” . They also described mediators as the third party assisting the participants in reaching their decision. This process should form a part of the pre-trial civil litigation process as its advantages on the legal system and the community outweigh its disadvantages. The distinguishing models of mediation make it a suitable approach for all or most civil cases.
International commercial arbitration is one of the most important legal institutions in international private law. This conclusion follows from the fact that the nature of arbitration depends largely on autonomy of the parties, who choose arbitration procedure as the procedure in which the dispute will be settled; place where the arbitration is to be held; arbitral tribunal etc. Probably the most important and considerable expression of the autonomy is the right to choose the law, which is to be applied to merits of the dispute. The chosen applicable law guarantees in large measure predictability of the outcome of the case and allows parties to control the scope of interpretation and application of the international commercial