Consultation Paper on Alternative Dispute Resolution - Law Reform ...

8.52 Similarly, Forfás recommended in its 2002 report Legislating for
Competitive Advantage in e-Business and Information & Communications
Technologies that the Government should assess the possible role of an online
ombudsman in providing a conciliation service between consumers and firms
trading over the Internet and in adjudicating any disputes arising. The Report
also recommended that if the Irish Courts are to operate as an effective
mechanism for the appeal and review of e-ADR, the electronic systems used
would have to be integrated or shared. It also stated that mechanisms by which
the online ADR and the e-Courts could be integrated, building upon the 27th
Interim Report of the Committee on Court Practice and Procedure. 92
8.53 The Commission is also aware of the ongoing work of the Courts
Service in its development of an eCourts strategy 93 and invites submissions on
how the 2002 Reports on online dispute resolution can be further developed.
8.54 The Commission commends the recommendations on online dispute
resolution of consumer disputes made by the Information Society Commission
in its 2002 Report Building Trust and by Forfas in its 2002 Report Legislating for
Competitive Advantage in e-Business and Information & Communications
Technologies and invites submissions as to whether they should be
incorporated into a statutory Code of Practice concerning mediation and
conciliation in consumer disputes.
F Small Claims Court
8.55 Since its inception as a pilot scheme in 1991 the Small Claims Court,
which operates in the District Court, has become an invaluable tool in allowing
consumers to assert their consumer rights. 94 The success of this scheme led to
the establishment of the procedure nationwide 1993. The main advantage of the
procedure from the consumer perspective is that their only liability in terms of
92
Legislating for Competitive Advantage in e-Business and Information &
Communications Technologies (Forfas, 2002). Available at
http://www.forfas.ie/publications/ebus_ict_leg02/021029_ebusiness_ict_leg_72dpi
_s.pdf.
93 See ICT Strategy for the Courts Service 2000-2010, available at www.courts.ie.
94 Now regulated by the District Court (Small Claims Procedure) Rules1999 (S.I. No.
191 of 1999) which inserted O53A into the District Court Rules 1997 (SI no. 93 of
1997). See Bird ―Small Claims Procedure in the District Court‖ (1992) 10 ILT 35;
and McHugh Small Claims Court in Ireland: A Consumer‘s Guide (FirstLaw,
2003).
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