Last year, UNCITRAL established a Working Group to develop a global online dispute resolution system for the resolution of low-value cross-border disputes, both B2B and B2C. (Former Indisputably blogger Nancy Welsh and my St. John’s colleague Elayne Greenberg have been participating and poked me on this one.)

The Working Group published a set of draft procedural rules in March, available here. (If that link doesn’t work, you can find all the Working Group’s documents by searching for “Online dispute resolution for cross-border electronic commerce transactions: draft procedural rules” here.) Here is the thumbnail sketch of the kind of process the draft rules envision:

(a) They include a negotiation phase, followed by a phase of facilitated settlement and, if that second phase is inconclusive, by a final and binding decision by a neutral person. To take account of the need for a speedy procedure, the neutral appointed by the ODR provider handles both phases of facilitated settlement and arbitration; the term “neutral” has been chosen to encompass both possible functions;

(b) It is proposed that, unless otherwise decided by the parties, disputes are handled by a sole neutral, who is selected by the ODR provider and not the parties, although the parties can challenge the choice of the neutral through a simplified procedure; and

(c) There would not be any hearing, as the procedure is based on documents filed online.

Earlier this month, the Working Group convened to discuss the draft rules. Its report is available here.

Many issues remain to be addressed. There are a number of “big picture” issues, including:

• whether the decisions will be arbitral awards enforceable under the New York Convention;
• the appropriateness of having a single neutral serve in both the “facilitative” and “binding” roles; and
• how to define the types of claims to which the rules would apply (the arbitrability question)

In addition, more technical points need further consideration, such as: whether to include a statute of limitations; whether to allow video hearings; what kinds of ODR platforms should be encouraged; how ODR providers would be selected; etc.

There are opportunities for NGOs to participate in the development of the rules. If this is something that interests you, contact John Singer, International Counsel at the FTC and a member of the US delegation.