International Dispute Settlement - Essay Example

This paper will even focus on the difference between municipal courts and methods for settling international disputes. Body Alternative Dispute Resolution ADR is an umbrella term used for various methods used to settle disputes in the international arena (August, 2009). These methods are used when two international parties end up disagreeing with each other; these methods are used when parties want to solve the dispute without going to courts. There are various advantages and disadvantages associated with this sort of dispute settlement process.

International parties resort to this sort of dispute settlement because this method saves money. When dispute cases are taken to courts, a lot of cost is involved. These costs include: fees for hiring and deploying a lawyer, fees of creating and obtaining documentation and court fees. When ADR is used as a method to resolve dispute, cost of hiring lawyers and court fees is eradicated. This method is best for those parties who are in a conflict in which too much money is not involved. When cases go to municipal courts, the cases catch the eyes of the public and media.

Due to this the positive impression of good companies that trade internationally is hampered. This benefit of ADR secures the privacy of the parties involved and due to this method; companies do not have to be held accountable for sharing their private information with the public. Disputes that are taken to the court experience heavy amount of wastage of time, it takes years to settle a dispute in courts. In case of ADR, disputes end up being solved in as low as two to three weeks time period.

The time period spend on solving a dispute through ADR is dependant on how soon parties are ready to sit with a panelist to resolve the conflict. Hen disputes are settled in courts, the entire process is controlled by the supreme one that is the judge. In ADR the parties have certain control over the process selection and selection of the panelist which is conducted after reviewing a list of experienced panelist. The main advantage of this type of dispute settlement is that this method can lead to a win situation for both the parties; this feature of ADR is rarely present in municipal court cases (August, 2009).

There are several upsides of resolving dispute through ADR, but this method is not short of downsides. One of the major downsides of ADR is that it is not enforceable by law, this means that the parties have a free will whether to abide by the resolution or not. On the other hand, disputes resolved in the court of law are enforced and the law ensures that the parties involved abide by the decision. Secondly, equally justice may not take place because the stronger party may be able to direct the resolution in his favor which will result in a loss for the other party.

The panelist of ADR might not have expertise equal to the expertise of a judge; therefore he/she might not be able to resolve the conflict in a highly professional manner (August, 2009). International Tribunals ADR is a dispute solving method which is not processed under legal circumstances; on the other hand there are ways through which international problems can be resolved through judiciary procedures. These methods are recognized as international tribunals, there are various such courts including the WTO and the ICJ.

The advantages of such tribunals are that