A UNIQUE MEDIATION AND ARBITRATION METHOD

Arbitrall proceedings start with the fact-checker bringing all the parties around the table. Together they will do the story-telling of the dispute and clarify the issues to be solved. Often, this will open windows to negotiations.    If no agreement is reached, the arbitrator takes over and makes a binding third-party decision that reconciles the interests at stake. The aim is to come as close as possible to the amicable agreement that the parties could have reached.

Beforehand, the detailed procedural rules are discussed with the parties. The latter can adapt certain aspects of these rules to their situation by mutual agreement before starting the procedure.

The method is truly unique and allows for a balanced solution that puts an end to the dispute

A SMOOTH AND ADAPTED PROCESS

The arbitrator never condemns. He/she works solution-oriented. The arbitrator acts as an agent of the parties who have instructed him/her to find the best possible solution to end the conflict.

Throughout the proceedings, the parties can indicate what is important to them and what seems right to them. Instead of constantly arguing with each other, they will be encouraged to help the arbitrator to reach a solution that is fully acceptable to them. And the arbitrator will be required to consider what is important to both parties.

The procedure encourages the parties to reach as many partial agreements as possible during the process.  These partial agreements are, of course, binding on both them and the arbitrator.

 Some examples? One can make partial agreements on the facts and proper chronology. One can agree on urgent measures to limit damages. The parties can define the essential interests that the arbitrator must respect. Or still, they can mutually agree to limit the arbitrator’s powers.

It is virtually impossible for a traditional court to settle such issues. Therefore, one should not be surprised that parties often feel misunderstood when they read a classic court’s judgement.

Because of all of this, parties experience an arbitral decision reached through the Arbitrall proceedings as just and adapted.

Moreover, this decision is made within a short period of time, namely, a few weeks, rather than months or years. That changes everything.

A BALANCED BINDING SOLUTION AS RESULT

The procedure always leads to a resolution of the conflict. The arbitrator can also provide support in implementing the decision.

CONFICT RESOLUTION

The three keys of the BelCCR’s proposal

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Going to the judicial trial is old school

  • Yes, choosing his own private judge is possible and legal. This private judge will definitively take the place of the public one, his arbitration award has the same value as a judgement.

  • Yes it is possible and legal to choose other rules of procedure than the public ones, rules which are more effective and more adapted to the situation and to the timeline.
  • The public rules are so archaic and heavy to handle that their global cost is very high, probably much more than the costs of an arbitration award and with more risks of errors of interpretation.

  • And of course the dispute will be definitively settled in a few months in place of a few years.

The BelCCR arbitrator is like an investigative magistrate

  • Belgian law gives a passive position to the judicial judge. He/she is a sitting-magistrate, taking his/her seat a very long time after the facts. How is it possible to find the truth hearing so late contradictory positions often build on a lack of evidence ?
    The judicial judge isn’t an investigator, he/she can just count the score of each litigator.
    It doesn’t help.

  • The BelCCR arbitrator is like an investigative magistrate : he/she is reactive, he/she hears the witnesses, the experts, he/she goes himself to the place of the facts in the right time, he/she orders the production of lacking documents, he/she does or orders whatever helps to distinguish facts opinions and lies. His/her first concern is to realize how and why the facts happened, because an error can’t never make justice.

The BelCCR procedure encourages the negotiated agreement

  • The two most frequently pillars of any dispute are misunderstanding and negative emotions. Two mindsets easily solved during the BelCCR procedure. Then why not considering again and again the negotiated agreement ?

  • A good deal is always better than a good trial : only the agreement can perform the fine tuning of the solution. This fine tuning is an added value for the parties.
  • Everyone is afraid to meet his so-called “enemy”, that’s why the arbitrator can « give a push » when he, or she, feels that there is a new chance or a special added-value for a negotiated agreement. Of course, everyone stays free, it is just a proposal.

  • A Mediator is appointed at the very beginning of the procedure, he – or she – stays available, as well as your own shadow. he/she is the permanent shelter for the protagonists, the place to go if you feel that a confidential table is the best place to solve definitively the dispute