Tania Sourdin

University of Newcastle Australia · Newcastle Law School

Mediation use in the international commercial area has been the subject of some research and discussion over the past two decades. In the past five years, however, a number of significant changes have resulted in an increased focus on the use of mediation to resolve international commercial disputes. One significant area of potential change has res...

Mediation use in the international commercial area has been the subject of some research and discussion over the past two decades. In the past five years however a number of significant changes have resulted in an increased focus on the use of mediation to resolve international commercial disputes. One significant area of potential change has resul...

International commercial mediation has increased in popularity over the past few years for a range of reasons. In common with domestic mediation practice across a range of dispute areas, amidst lockdowns arising from COVID 19, international commercial mediation shifted from an in-person environment to an online video conferencing process. Debates a...

There is growing evidence that judges and magistrates experience both high stress and high satisfaction in their work; however, the subjective experience of judicial stress and the cultural and professional factors shaping that experience remain largely unexamined. This qualitative study builds upon earlier quantitative research with the Australian...

There are many concerns that arise in the context of Judge AI where there is a complete replacement of judges and, to a far lesser extent, in the development of supportive Judge AI. These concerns are linked to micro as well as macro issues. For example, on an individual level, Judge AI might reduce cost and time factors but could also foster inacc...

This article presents a systematic literature review which synthesises current knowledge to advance a more sophisticated conceptual framework to measure the return on investment (ROI) in complaints management. Literature is examined from searches of ProQuest, EBSCO, Emerald Plus and Google Scholar to create a road map of extant knowledge published...

In this article, an analysis of legal arguments and legal liability options in relation to autonomous vehicles (AV) is undertaken using a comparative methodology approach. Liability is examined through two lenses, the first being user liability, and the second, manufacturer liability. Reference is made to various liability arrangements that may be...

This article explores the emergence of Automated Vehicles (AVs) in Australia. It will investigate the legal and regulatory terrain. International and domestic approaches are examined to determine potential responses. The regulatory issues emerge partly due to the varied nature of artificial intelligence systems and processes that enable AVs to func...

Recent research on the nature, prevalence and severity of judicial stress in Australia has revealed a considerable burden of stress placed upon the judicial system. This article builds upon this research by exploring the demographic and workplace factors associated with elevated stress among Australian judicial officers. A survey of 152 judicial of...

As with other jurisdictions, China has introduced a range of newer technologies into its justice sector to promote greater access to justice, improve judicial transparency and to promote just outcomes for disputing parties with legal issues. Chinese courts’ practice of embracing technology is unique as an overarching approach has been adopted by th...

Note: This paper has been accepted for publication by the International Journal for Court Administration. Revisions have been recommended, along with very helpful suggestions. As with other jurisdictions, China has introduced a range of newer technologies into its justice sector to promote greater access to justice, improve judicial transparency a...

Short piece on the Singapore Convention on Mediation and some potentially negative issues arising from its introduction

This paper explores the purpose and efficacy of the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation (‘Singapore Convention’ or ‘Convention’). The Convention’s genesis was premised on the notion of alleviating the enforceability issues that are annexed to settlement agreements arising from cross-border media...

This paper explores the purpose and efficacy of the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation (‘Singapore Convention’ or ‘Convention’). The Convention’s genesis was premised on the notion of alleviating the enforceability issues that are annexed to settlement agreements arising from cross-border media...

During the COVID-19 pandemic, courts around the world have introduced a range of technologies to cope with social distancing requirements. Jury trials have been largely delayed, although some jurisdictions moved to remote jury approaches and video conferencing was used extensively for bail applications. While videoconferencing has been used to a mo...

Background : COVID-19 has disrupted not only the health sector but also justice systems. Courts around the world have had to respond quickly to the challenges presented by the pandemic and the associated social distancing restrictions. This has created significant challenges for the justice system and such challenges are likely to be further compou...

Customer complaints are inevitable given the complexity of products (service) and the inherent need for human involvement in aspects of service delivery. In today’s competitive, socially networked environment, customers are empowered by technology, their expectations increasing, with the magnitude of complaint effects having increased with the digi...

Fundamental to the practice of law is the need to adapt to the ever-changing circumstances of human society. The COVID-19 pandemic is requiring lawyers, courts, judges and others (such as Alternative Dispute Resolution ('ADR') practitioners) involved in the justice system to reassess how they operate in a rapidly changing environment that requires...

While there are already a range of applications or "apps" that support better access to justice and enable participants to be better informed and engaged in the justice sector, there are clear risks that arise where human oversight of processes and decision-making is removed. In this paper, authors argue that an ethical approach to legal tech is of...

The Australian Financial Services Reform Act 2001 (Cth) requires that licenced banking and financial services providers establish internal dispute resolution (‘IDR’) systems complying with requirements promulgated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (‘ASIC’). In addition, licence holders are required to be members of an ASIC app...

Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard wrote 'Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards'. The pace of life of the mid-19th century when this was written and the (comparatively) modest rate of technological change possibly allowed for a more considered reflection of past events towards moving ahead. However, the increasing r...

This article presents the methodology and primary quantitative analysis of Australia's first empirical research measuring judicial stress and wellbeing. The findings arise from the survey of 152 judges and magistrates from five Australian courts. Using standardised and validated psychometric instruments for a broad range of stress constructs, the s...

This article presents the methodology and primary quantitative analysis of Australia's first empirical research measuring judicial stress and wellbeing. The findings arise from the survey of 152 judges and magistrates from five Australian courts. Using standardised and validated psychometric instruments for a broad range of stress constructs, the s...

The meaning of vulnerability in the context of consumers in the banking and finance sector in Australia is poorly articulated, partly because vulnerability can be situational, can vary over time, and may be linked to financial or economic vulnerability that can impact on the capacity of a consumer to seek redress and pursue the resolution of any di...

As technology continues to change the way in which we work and function, there are predictions that many aspects of human activity will be replaced or supported by newer technologies. Whilst many human activities have changed over time as a result of human advances, more recent shifts in the context of technological change are likely to have a broa...

In this chapter the Editors introduce the concept of responsive judging, examine its historical roots, and explore some of its manifestations in courts and judiciaries today. In general terms, judicial responsiveness is an acknowledgement by judges that the law is not an autonomous field of activity answerable only to its own norms, but is rather a...

Judicial responsiveness requires judges to act from the perspective of conscious legal rationality and also with intuition, empathy and compassion. To what extent will the judicial role change in terms of responsiveness as many aspects of human activity, including aspects of the work of lawyers and judges, are not only augmented, but even taken ove...

This can be accessed on ssrn at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3270642

This article explores the use of data mining and textual analysis to decipher dispute characteristics, with the goal of developing process referral indicia or 'dispute resolution triage ’for disputants. It seeks to better understand the characteristics o f disputes that eventually result in judicial decisions by examining and exploring available ca...

Effectively designed complaint handling systems play a key role in enabling vulnerable consumers to complain and obtain redress. This article examines current research into consumer vulnerability, highlighting its multidimensional and expansive nature. Contemporary understandings of consumer vulnerability recognize that the interaction between a wi...

Robert Burt in, "The Yale School of Law and Psychoanalysis, from 1963 Onward", in this issue, explains and laments a decline in influence of psychoanalytic ideas in legal thinking. He notes "the fundamental similarity that both litigation and psychotherapy involve recollections of past events", buttressing his argument with eight parallels between...

Historical acknowledgements of delays in the justice system often recognise the perspective of the accused or the disputant, and suggest that for a person seeking justice, the time taken for resolution of their issue is critical to the justice experience. In essence, these acknowledgements are consistent with more recent research which has shown th...

This is the Final Report in the ATO ‘Evaluating ADR’ project. The Report focuses on a sample of taxation and superannuation disputes involving 118 finalised Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) processes that were conducted between July 2013 and June 2014. This Report considers the effectiveness, cost, perceptions and approaches used in the ADR pro...

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) processes are increasingly being used to deal with a wide range of disputes that can include regulatory disputes involving government. This article explores the use of ADR in disputes relating to taxation and involves a consideration of effectiveness, procedural justice indicators and potential issues with the u...

This paper explores issues in the justice system that are related to timeliness and its interconnectedness to the definition of delay, whilst considering the impact of delay on the experience of the justice system user.Historical acknowledgements recognise the perspective of the accused or the disputant, and suggest that for a person seeking justic...

This paper is concerned with this group of SRLs, who may not be represented for a range of reasons but who may, because of their behavior, raise particular issues for judicial officers, courts and tribunals and most importantly for the administration of justice in the whole community.

The behaviour of those engaged in negotiation and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) processes that are undertaken or required before or after litigation is increasingly the subject of legislative regulation. Recent case law has also more clearly articulated the characteristics of good faith as well as other standards such as 'genuine effort' and...

Pre-action requirements, including protocols, obligations and schemes, exist in various forms across Australia and are intended to encourage the early resolution of disputes without the need to commence proceedings in a court or tribunal. Whilst the capacity of pre-action requirements to reduce the cost and time of dispute resolution has served as...

A multi-door court is the epicenter of dispute resolution referral and assessment, while multi-option system assumes that disputants will attempt to resolve disputes before filing court proceedings. Multi-option and multidoor processes work well if they are supported via mechanisms such as triaging, dispute counseling, and education and by stronger...

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) processes are now widely used throughout Australia to resolve and manage disputes without the need to use traditional rights-based processes such as litigation. ADR usually refers to dispute resolution processes that are 'alternative' to traditional court proceedings. ADR is also now used as an acronym for 'assi...

Pre-action protocols, obligations and schemes exist in various forms across Australia and are intended to encourage the early resolution of disputes without the need to commence proceedings in a court or tribunal. The objective of the Pre-Action Research Project (this Project), which has culminated in this Report, has been to consider and explore t...

The Australian Centre for Justice Innovation (ACJI) has been funded by the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department to consider how the mapping, exploration and articulation of the population of self-represented litigants (SRLs) in the civil justice system in Australia takes place and to make recommendations to improve the collection of data rela...

Research about how we make decisions reveals that our decision-making is influenced by many factors. We are conscious of some of these factors and unconscious of others. Some theorists suggest that the processor of the brain is divided into two distinct systems that dictate how we think and make decisions. One system is fast, intuitive, reactive, e...

The aim of the Pre-action Obligations Research Project (this Project) is to assess the use and effectiveness of pre-action schemes and obligations that encourage people to resolve their disputes before filing proceedings with a court or tribunal. This Background Paper provides information about the Research Project and about the common pre-action o...

The mapping, exploration and articulation of the population of self represented litigants in Australia and elsewhere is complicated by inconsistencies in the definition of what is a self represented litigant (SRL) in the literature. The inconsistencies appear to be due to the differing motivations and requirements of data collectors and those who h...

Justice, like beauty, may also be in the eye of the beholder. For some individuals, whether or not an outcome, process and system are 'just' will depend on what is expected, available and perceived. From a societal perspective, however, the definition of 'justice' and determining the reach of the justice system as well as the location of just dispu...

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is not taught in all Australian law schools. If it is taught, it is more likely to be taught as an elective rather than a mandatory core subject. The National Alternative Dispute Resolution Advisory Council (NADRAC) in 2011 and 2012 conducted a survey of Australian Law Schools and estimated that at present less...

Judges conduct settlement conferences in civil disputes in many parts of the world. This is an important feature of judicial work in many jurisdictions. In Australia, the role of judges and their relationship with Alternative or Appropriate Dispute Resolution ('ADR') processes and, in particular, their role in judicial settlement conferencing proce...

A body of research undertaken by the writer over the past five years has revealed that there are a number of factors that impact upon the use and access to complaints and alternative dispute resolution processes by disputants. In particular, the research has suggested that many disputants who may have grievances or concerns do not access or use com...

It has been estimated that more than one billion transactions now take place online each year. In many cases disputes regarding these transactions are dealt with ‘on line’ using a range of ADR processes (ODR) in a globalised environment. Changing and emerging technologies also have considerable relevance to the continuing evolution of ADR processes...