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Hi, I'm Julie Tietz, and welcome to Conflict Resolution-- Putting the Pieces Together. Today we're going to cover the arbitration process. So let's get started with our key terms. First we have arbitration-- a conflict resolution process in which a neutral party describes the outcome of a dispute between two or more parties. Arbiter-- the conflict resolver involved in an arbitration.
Arbitration tribunal-- a group of arbiters working together in an arbitration. Award-- the decision of an arbiter or arbitration tribunal in an arbitration. So let's get into arbitration more. Arbitration is a technique for dispute resolution outside of the court systems. And this is where the parties refer their dispute to one or more persons. And these could be the arbitrators, arbiters, or tribunal.
And their decision that they make, or award, the parties involved agree to be legally bound by them. And they are enforceable on both sides. The arbiter can be a legal professional, but they don't have to be. Sometimes they are lawyers or former judges. And they can also be a subject matter expert, but they don't have to be as well. So they could have a lot of background knowledge and practice in the specific subject matter that the dispute is surrounding.
And the parties decide, depending upon the nature of the dispute, and they consent to the conditions of who the arbiter would be and what the arbitration would look like. Arbitration is becoming a more commonly used form of dispute resolution, particularly in business disputes, because there are some perceived advantages over traditional court processes, such as there is a lot of subject matter surrounding the dispute and the parties then have the opportunity to choose the arbiter that has extensive background knowledge and practice within that particular subject. Also, in the court system, you can't choose your judge-- but again, in arbitration, you can choose who your arbiter is going to be.
And it is perceived to be faster than litigation in court. And some other advantages include it's less expensive than traditional court processes and it's more flexible. And the awards generally are not public. And it can also be made confidential-- whereas in a court system, most of the matters that are presided over are public record. Although there have been these perceived advantages of arbitration, there's also been some issues raised about it, particularly concerns about business and financial practices such as credit card agreements.
A lot of times before you sign up, let's say, for a credit card, the company requires you to waive your right to go to court in order to get that credit card. And this could be perceived as taking away some of your constitutional rights. And some of them also may require that you accept the arbitrator chosen by the other party in the dispute. And so there may be that perception of bias towards the other party in the dispute. And you may not get a fair outcome.
So now that we have covered the process of arbitration, let's go over some key points. And arbitration-- it's a dispute resolution method that is outside of the court system, and the decision is made by an arbiter. And that decision is legally binding and enforceable by the parties. And some advantages of arbitration-- it saves time and money. Some issues that surround arbitration include it could possibly infringe on people's certain rights, such as their right to go to court. Thank you for taking the time out to view this tutorial, and I hope to catch you again next time.