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The 'Vanishing Third Party': Access to Justice, Procedural Justice and Substantive Justice in the Age of Dispute Resolution Automation

Project description

Smart computers as judges

Algorithms and AI are applied increasingly in courts and informal arenas, replacing judges and mediators. This development is called dispute resolution automation (DRA). The phenomenon of the "vanishing third party" is transforming the role of human third parties in dispute resolution, but its consequences have yet to be studied, conceptualised and theorised. The EU-funded DRA project will develop a new theory of access to justice (barriers), procedural justice (perceived fairness) and substantive justice (just outcomes) for DRA. The project will develop a normative framework for just DRA, conduct a comprehensive empirical study of DRA platform data, generate a typology for the design of just automated processes, devise model procedural rules for DRA in courts and develop novel DRA assessment methods.

Objective

Courts without judges? Informal processes without mediators? We are on the verge of a dramatic paradigm shift in our justice system from human to algorithmic dispute resolution. While most of us perceive the delivery of justice as a human task, courts and informal arenas worldwide are increasingly relying on online processes that employ algorithms in lieu of judges and mediators. Also, artificial intelligence is more commonly used to support and predict judicial outcomes. Together, these developments constitute dispute resolution automation (DRA). What is still a nascent phenomenon, accelerated by Covid-19, is certain to expand dramatically within and outside courts, as our backlogged justice system seeks to transform the inefficient resolution and adjudication of cases, and expand access to justice. Despite growth of DRA, our theories, concepts, and rules remain focused on the role of human third parties in reducing barriers to courts, generating perceptions of procedural fairness, and ensuring just outcomes. The implications of the vanishing third party on justice have yet to be recognized, studied, conceptualized, and theorized. This project will fill this gap by offering a new theory of access to justice (barriers), procedural justice (perceived fairness) and substantive justice (just outcomes) for DRA. To that end, I will (1) develop a normative framework for just DRA, (2) conduct a comprehensive empirical study of real data in four research sites in different countries (France, the Netherlands, the U.S. and Israel), lab experiments on DRA, and interviews with designers and users of DRA; (3) generate a typology for the design of just automated processes across settings, and devise model procedural rules for the adoption of DRA in courts, and (4) develop novel methods for the evaluation of DRA.

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Topic(s)

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HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) ERC-2021-COG

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Host institution

UNIVERSITY OF HAIFA
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 1 971 671,00
Address
ABBA KHUSHY BLVD MOUNT CARMEL
31905 Haifa
Israel

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Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 1 971 671,00

Beneficiaries (1)

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