Consumer ombudsmen: better regulation and dispute resolution

This paper argues three main points. Firstly, implementation of the EU Consumer ADR Directive offers the opportunity of significantly improving access to justice. But it also offers Member States wider opportunities to do much more. Secondly, the selection of a particular CDR system can have important economic consequences. An arbitration-based CDR system may be entirely acceptable as dispute resolution, but an ombudsman-based system should add the considerable additional advantages of providing extensive consumer advice and also of significant amounts of regulatory information that can be turned to good use through market scrutiny mechanisms and regulatory enforcement authorities. Thirdly, there is the opportunity to modernise every type of dispute resolution mechanism. The mediation technique has been assimilated into litigation systems, but CDR systems show that adopting new architectures for particular disputes can deliver more effective and efficient dispute resolution. Indeed, it is possible to postulate a vision of a reformed, integrated and holistic EU system for resolution of conflicts. © 2015, ERA.