On March 16, 2020, the French government announced the complete cessation of activity in its country and in particular the closure of non-essential businesses due to the rapid spread of Covid-19.
As unexpected as it was unprecedented, such a measure surprised the entire judicial world, which was the first to be impacted. Jurisdictions were forced to cease all activity overnight, leaving businesses weakened, families weakened and entire lives suspended.
However, the judicial machine, blocked for many years, was already faced with major organizational problems. Even more, this one had seen its functioning upset by an initial movement against the reform of justice followed by a mobilization of the profession of lawyers defending their pension system.
But once the first emotions passed following the announcement of the current health crisis, legal professionals understood that it was imperative reinventing their practice so that existing conflicts are resolved, the social bond maintained and the dialogue between the parties preserved.
The Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) are then illustrated as a remedy as they could make it possible to effectively overcome a recourse to classic justice for the time being almost impossible.
The need to develop a culture of alternative dispute resolution has been gradually asserted over the past ten years until the justice reform implemented in 2019, which aimed to generalize the appeal.
The latter in fact consecrates an extensive conception of ADR. It sees them as an alternative to referral to a state court, whether purely amicable dispute resolution techniques (conciliation, mediation, participatory procedure, settlement), or even certain jurisdictional methods (internal arbitration and international).
Mediation and Conciliation refers to the process of conflict resolution whereby two or more parties attempt to reach an agreement amicably, outside of any legal proceedings, with the help of a third party.
The participatory procedure gives rise to an agreement concluded for a fixed period by which the parties to a dispute, assisted by their lawyers, undertake to work jointly and in good faith for the amicable resolution of their dispute which has not yet given rise to referral to a judge or an arbitrator or to the status of their dispute.
The transaction is a contract whereby the parties, by reciprocal concessions, complete a dispute arisen, or prevent a dispute to arise.
Finally, arbitration submits the dispute, by agreement between the parties, to one or more arbitrators. By deciding to resort to arbitration, in other words by signing an arbitration clause (so-called « arbitration clause »), the parties opt for a private dispute resolution procedure instead of a judicial procedure.
The Paris Bar, aware of the advantages that these mechanisms can present, is part of a proactive approach, carried out for more than ten years, particularly in terms of mediation.
From this approach was born, on 3rd June 2019, a space dedicated to mediation, put online on the website of the Bar Association. A site for the general public has also been launched. It presents with pedagogy the advantages of mediation and its progress. It also explains the role of the lawyer, whether mediator or support, in this type of procedure. This platform also offers help in choosing a mediator and the possibility of consulting the directory of mediator lawyers.
On March 27, 2020, a third site dedicated to the participatory pretrial procedure (PPME), the use of which has been generalized since January 1, 2020 before any court of law, whatever regardless of the procedure followed, has completed the range of tools offered by the Paris Bar.
The Order subsequently plans to expand these services to all types of ADRs.
The current pandemic has sparked a renewed interest in these methods of conflict resolution, which have also had to be adapted to confinement and the impossibility for the parties to meet face-to-face.
The Council of the Order of Paris, in a solidarity approach, has set up a group of lawyers- mediators, specifically dedicated to the emergency resolution of disputes related to the exercise of parental authority during the period of confinement. The practical terms of this offer have been specially adapted to the current crisis, mediation being provided exclusively by tele and videoconference.
This crisis highlights existing tools that are increasingly accessible to all types of disputes.
At the end of this period of crisis, the ADRs will have to take their full place and make it possible to unclog the courts, to make decisions more flexible and better adapted to the disputes, but also to re-establish dialogue between the parts.
Let's learn the best from this crisis and continue to develop these alternatives to traditional litigation for our clients who save time, energy, money and well-being.
