Alternative Methods Of Resolving Legal Disputes

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A legal dispute can be defined as a disagreement over the existence of a legal duty or right. To most, it is thought to be a clash between opposing parties that is eventually resolved in a court of law, such as the Supreme Court. However, there are alternative methods of resolving legal disputes other than by a court. Such methods include Tribunals as well as Arbitration. Firstly, both the meaning and obligations of a tribunal can be dissected in order to provide further understanding of the term. Court hearings are known to be quite time consuming as well as costly. Therefore, a much quicker and inexpensive method, such as a tribunal, can be utilized. Generally, a tribunal is known to be any person or institution with the authority to judge, to pass that particular judgment, or to determine claims or disputes. An example of a tribunal would be an advocate appearing before a Court on which a single Judge was sitting. This single judge could then be described as the advocate’s ‘tribunal’. In The Bahamas, the Industrial Relations Act regulates the three important areas that must be upheld by a tribunal. These are the composition, jurisdiction, and procedures of the tribunal. The composition entails the amount of sitting judges, presidents, vice presidents, and their authoritative positions. The jurisdiction states the type of hearings and disputes the tribunal can tend to and make awards for. For example, The Industrial Tribunal of The Bahamas has a wide jurisdiction over statutory law disputes including unfair dismisal, sexual discrimination, and maternity rights. Additionally, the procedure of a tribunal includes the formality of the hearing, whether or not strict rules of evidence will be applied, and the issues regarding appeals in the event that one party is not satisfied with the outcome of the proceedings. As with tribunals, Arbitration is also utilized by
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