NCJ Number
75918
Date Published
1979
Length
123 pages
Annotation
Dispute resolution alternatives being developed to make justice for accessible for citizens with minor complaints were discussed by panels of legal experts, judges, citizens, and businessmen during 2 days of Senate hearings in 1979.
Abstract
The committee chairman's opening statements noted that the Dispute Resolution Act had just been introduced to establish an information clearinghouse and fund innovative approaches for resolving citizen disputes. Lawyers from the Department of Justice and the American Bar Association (ABA) summarized their organizations' efforts in this field, with particular attention to Neighborhood Justice Centers. The wide range of dispute resolution mechanisms available were emphasized in a review of specific programs throughout the country presented by a researcher from Harvard Law School. A panel of three district court judges from Massachusetts addressed the need for alternative means of dispute resolution in community small claims courts and described Massachusetts' experimental approaches to the problem. Observations of the Urban Court program in Dorchester, Mass., were provided by staff members and disputants. This project began in 1975 to assist victims of crime and extended its activities to mediate disputes between married couples, family members, and merchants and customers. Representatives of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Massachusetts Bar Association testified in support of the Dispute Resolution Act. The second day of hearings began with testimony from the President of the ABA who outlined ways that access to legal services and the courts could be improved and explored innovative dispute resolution programs. Committee members questioned the witness on legal services for the indigent, ABA's efforts to establish prepaid legal programs, advertising by lawyers, and diversion of some jurisdictional matters from Federal to State courts. Correspondence between the committee chairman and the U.S Attorney General, the ABA, the Grassroots Dispute Resolution Clearinghouse, and the National Consumer Law Center is appended. A 1977 statement on the Consumer Controversies Resolution Act and a 1978 statement regarding the Dispute Resolution Act made by the director of the National Consumer Law Center are included. For the latter document, see NCJ 75919.