This new edition considers a wide range of materials dealing with dispute processes and current debates on civil justice.

Michael Palmer is Emeritus Professor of Law at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). He is also Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS) and at the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies (HKIAPS) at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. His publications are mainly in the field of comparative legal studies and give particular attention to Chinese law, both traditional and modern. Michael has been Joint Editor of the Journal of Comparative Law for more than a decade and is also Editor of the journal Amicus Curiae. He is a barrister at Serle Court and at McNair Chambers. He has been a special adviser to the Attorney-General of Hong Kong, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the European Commission, and also recently served as (very probably) the first western dean of a mainland Chinese law school.

Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction; 2. Cultures of decision-making: precursors to the emergence of ADR; 3. The debates around civil justice and the movement towards procedural innovation; 4. Disputes and dispute processes; 5. Development of disputes, avoidance and self help; 6. Negotiations; 7. Mediation; 8. Umpiring: courts and tribunals; 9. Umpiring: arbitration; 10. Hybrid forms and processual experimentation; 11. The ombuds and its diffusion: from public to private; 12. ODR and its diffusion: from private to public; 13. Institutionalization of ADR; 14. Reflections; Appendix A. Some role plays; Bibliography; Further reading; Index.