Online Arbitration and its Applications in the Context of Online Dispute Resolutions in the World and Our Country

Abstract

This article examines online arbitration within the context of online dispute resolution, which began with the advent of the internet during the 1990s and has become efficient over time. Contemporarily, fast-evolving technology has engendered a new perspective to dispute resolution. This new approach has altered the traditional understanding of dispute resolution from classical methods such as face-to-face hearings or sessions to using the internet, while causing a shift from the real world to the cyberspace. Alternative dispute resolution methods such as arbitration and mediation are conducted by various institutions across countries around the world. Some of these institutions expanded their application to include the scope of online dispute resolution after 2010. More specifically, arbitration institutions in some countries introduced regulations regarding online arbitration in 2015. They did so with the aim of having online arbitration within the scope of online dispute resolution in cyberspace using the Internet. This study shares examples from online arbitration applications of various institutions around the world. The Istanbul Arbitration Center was founded under the Law on Istanbul Arbitration Center numbered 6570, with the aim of resolution of disputes by alternative methods in Turkey. This is a nascent and the first institution to provide such service in Istanbul. These significant measures engendered by recent technologies on dispute resolution have gained a completely different importance with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Access to justice and the right to legal remedies have moved to online platforms at specific rates. Within this scope, the Istanbul Arbitration Center has recently published the Procedures and Principles for Online Hearings. Speed, efficiency, and resolution of disputes with lower costs constitute the positive aspects of online arbitration, which are also characterized by few negative aspects. Undoubtedly, technical problems relating to internet access, which are more technology-based, can be resolved faster due to constant developments in the technological field during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the actual problem relates to ensuring fair and righteous decisions while enabling justice and the right to a fair trial in an online arbitration area. This article aims to reconsider those issues along with the challenges engendered by the COVID-19 pandemic.