Online Dispute Resolution as Legal Disruption: What Effect Could It Have on the South African Dispute Resolution Landscape?

Across the world, the legal profession has typically been slow to adapt to technological changes. The South African legal profession is no exception to this, despite the fact that technology has the potential to facilitate and innovate many aspects of the practice of law. One such aspect is the fie...

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Main Author: Robin Cupido
Format: Article
Language:Afrikaans
Published: North-West University 2024-12-01
Series:Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://perjournal.co.za/article/view/18122
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author Robin Cupido
author_facet Robin Cupido
author_sort Robin Cupido
collection DOAJ
description Across the world, the legal profession has typically been slow to adapt to technological changes. The South African legal profession is no exception to this, despite the fact that technology has the potential to facilitate and innovate many aspects of the practice of law. One such aspect is the field of dispute resolution, where it has been established that technology can be used to reimagine how disputes are resolved, looking outside of the traditional litigation model. Used in this way, technology becomes a disruptive innovation, changing the traditional dispute resolution practices carried out in the legal world. The aim of this work is to provide an explanation of what a disruptive innovation is and to discuss whether technology can be such an innovation in the South African dispute resolution landscape. This discussion will comprise a general examination of the legislative framework and current uses of technology in South African law. In the context of dispute resolution, it is suggested that online dispute resolution (ODR) embodies a disruptive innovation. An exploration of ODR follows, with the goal of determining whether it is a sustainable alternative to traditional litigation and whether it is feasible to include this innovation in South African law.
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institution Kabale University
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spelling doaj-art-eda9c65aebd04e1d855c75dfafc7a04d2024-12-11T08:26:50ZafrNorth-West UniversityPotchefstroom Electronic Law Journal1727-37812024-12-012710.17159/1727-3781/2024/v27i0a17231Online Dispute Resolution as Legal Disruption: What Effect Could It Have on the South African Dispute Resolution Landscape?Robin Cupido0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9098-8408University of Cape Town Across the world, the legal profession has typically been slow to adapt to technological changes. The South African legal profession is no exception to this, despite the fact that technology has the potential to facilitate and innovate many aspects of the practice of law. One such aspect is the field of dispute resolution, where it has been established that technology can be used to reimagine how disputes are resolved, looking outside of the traditional litigation model. Used in this way, technology becomes a disruptive innovation, changing the traditional dispute resolution practices carried out in the legal world. The aim of this work is to provide an explanation of what a disruptive innovation is and to discuss whether technology can be such an innovation in the South African dispute resolution landscape. This discussion will comprise a general examination of the legislative framework and current uses of technology in South African law. In the context of dispute resolution, it is suggested that online dispute resolution (ODR) embodies a disruptive innovation. An exploration of ODR follows, with the goal of determining whether it is a sustainable alternative to traditional litigation and whether it is feasible to include this innovation in South African law. https://perjournal.co.za/article/view/18122Legal disruptionTechnologyInnovationOnline Dispute Resolution
spellingShingle Robin Cupido
Online Dispute Resolution as Legal Disruption: What Effect Could It Have on the South African Dispute Resolution Landscape?
Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal
Legal disruption
Technology
Innovation
Online Dispute Resolution
title Online Dispute Resolution as Legal Disruption: What Effect Could It Have on the South African Dispute Resolution Landscape?
title_full Online Dispute Resolution as Legal Disruption: What Effect Could It Have on the South African Dispute Resolution Landscape?
title_fullStr Online Dispute Resolution as Legal Disruption: What Effect Could It Have on the South African Dispute Resolution Landscape?
title_full_unstemmed Online Dispute Resolution as Legal Disruption: What Effect Could It Have on the South African Dispute Resolution Landscape?
title_short Online Dispute Resolution as Legal Disruption: What Effect Could It Have on the South African Dispute Resolution Landscape?
title_sort online dispute resolution as legal disruption what effect could it have on the south african dispute resolution landscape
topic Legal disruption
Technology
Innovation
Online Dispute Resolution
url https://perjournal.co.za/article/view/18122
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