Tue 03 Sep 2019

Sampling of Mediator Opinions about Access to Justice

Posted by Walter.Brynjolfson

Recently we’ve been sending out a survey to mediators asking them to let us know their thoughts about Access to Justice, a topic of special interest for us since we signed the Access to Justice Triple Aim. Various mediators have chimed in their thoughts already and you can still send us your opinion by visiting the survey. We hope some of the following may inspire other thoughts from you:

Here are some of the answers to question two “What does Access to Justice mean to you as a practitioner?”  

As you can see, there's quite a diversity of opinions. We're still hoping to collect more data to better reflect the views of mediators. Please fill out the survey here to share your thoughts.

In case you couldn't see the word bubbles above, here's what people wrote:

"In my area, I guess this a bit tilted to my practice. Access to justice entails being able to address your issues with those you are living with in a multi dwelling unit in a manner that is reasonably speedy and cost effective; and not cost prohibitive. Affordable."

"As a person who supports alterantive approaches to resolving disputes, I define this as support for individuals who want a fair and "JUST" resolution to the conflict they are disputing.  Access to a form of justice that allows the individual to have control over the process and outcome is important to me as a practitioner."

"One of the principals of our society is the rule of law. Unfortunately if people believe they don't have access... they lose confidence and resort to self-help methods that are counter productive. My goal is to ensure that people have the opportunity to fulfill their right and exercise their obligations in such a way that they can realize the best results."

"Nil"

"I've had no contact with AtJ.  Only heard about it just now.  However am active in Restorative Justice in my community."

"Reducing barriers, and coming up with creative or alternative ways to get people the assistance they need to resolve their issues."

"Being expected by proponents to provide my service for free or at rates significantly below market"

"Not much"

"Timely affordable relevant evidence based resolution"

"Every dispute will be handled in the most de-escalated way by master facilitators of the process at the appropriate level of escalation"

"Making sure that every citizen has access to tools, in the justice system or ADR, to resolve their disputes"

"People living rurally, indigenous groups, and communities at a distance from Justice services are paying taxes like everyone else but not receiving the same services. It seems wrong.  Often by the time I'm called people have begun to take extraordinary action with each other and it has exacerbated the situation due to their lack of access to justice at an earlier point. They are less informed and therefore fighting about things that they dont need to fight about."

"Ensure public are aware and have access to choices vs no choice or unaffordability"

"Providing a collaborative, efficient and effective process to my clients so they can resolve their issues and move forward on a better path"

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