What is the history of mediation?

Many scholars believe that mediation dates back to ancient Sumerian society. Sumer was an ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed from 4500-1900 B.C in what is now known as the Middle East. Back then, the mashkim weighed the merits of every case before it appeared before the court.

When did alternative dispute resolution begin?

Early in the 20th Century, states began taking a concerted interest in systematic ADR as a litigation alternative. In the 1920s, over a dozen states passed modern arbitration laws and Congress enacted a federal cognate, the Federal Arbitration Act.

What is the origin of alternative dispute resolution?

Alternative dispute resolution, in the United States, emerged out of the legal reform and civil rights movements in the late 1960s. Excessive delays in the legal process from court overload and rising legal costs also encouraged more widespread support of ADR methods.

Who first used the term ADR?

Professor Sander pioneered in the field of alternative dispute resolution and is widely credited with being a father of the field in the United States as a result of his paper, The Varieties of Dispute Processing, presented at the Pound Conference in 1976 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Is mediation a type of ADR?

The most common forms of ADR for civil cases are mediation, arbitration, neutral evaluation, settlement conferences and community dispute resolution programs.

What is the history of Alternative Dispute Resolution?

History of Alternative Dispute Resolution: Fig 01: Evolution of ADR. The Roots of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR): [5] The first event listed on ADR was in 1800 B.C. when mediation and arbitration were used to settle disputes between kingdoms in the ancient Middle East.

Is Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) a disempowering device?

Today, the worldwide alternative dispute resolution (ADR) movements function as a strong disempowering device. Various effective tools are used in ADR to create a better harmonious society. Dispute or conflict resolution is a process that implies the causes of conflict as well as the resolution of such conflicts.

Is mediation an alternative to adjudication?

Mediation was not conceived as an alternative to adjudication. It was an alternative to strikes and ensuing economic disruption, which occurred when unassisted settlement negotiations failed (Superior Court of Delaware, n. d. ). While mediation goes back thousands of years (Barrett and Barrett, 2004, p.

What are the best books on Alternative Dispute Resolution?

Alternative Dispute Resolution. St. Paul, Minn.: West Group. Weeks, D. 1992. The Eight Essential Steps to Conflict Resolution. LosAngeles, CA: Jeremy P. Tarcher. Zartman, I.W. and J. L. Rasmussen, eds. 1997. Peacemaking in International Conflict: Methods and Techniques. Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace.