CityU hosted a conference on ‘The Potential and Future of ODR’
With the COVID-19 lockdown, traditional in-person justice must often now be pursued online. As a result, more practitioners and scholars are putting the spotlight on ODR - online dispute resolution. The online conference, entitled ‘The Potential and Future of ODR’, discussed the advantages, drawbacks and potential impacts of ODR and its development in an international context.
This conference was co-organized by the School of Law, CityU and CityU Law Review, a student-edited, peer-reviewed academic law journal published by the CityU Law School. With the aim of raising scholars’ and students’ awareness of the potential influence of ODR on the future of our legal industry, the CityU Law Review brought together scholars to discuss issues pertaining to the field of ODR. It was a valuable opportunity for practitioners, scholars and students to share their insights about the future of ODR. About seventy guests attended the conference.
The invited speakers for the conference were Ms. Kim Rooney, Barrister, Gilt Chambers; Director, eBRAM Intl. ODR Centre Ltd, who presented on the topic ‘ODR Legal Process and the New York Convention: The need for, and contents, of a fair and transparent legal process for ODR that meets the criteria of the New York Convention’; Prof. David Allen Larson, Professor of Law, Mitchell Hamline School of Law, who spoke on the theme ‘ODR Can Improve Access to Justice But Must Include Everyone’; Dr. Christopher To, Adjunct Professor, City University of Hong Kong School of Law; Barrister, Gilt Chambers, who delivered a presentation entitled ‘Every Cloud has a Silver Lining – the impact of Coronavirus on Online Dispute Resolution’; Dr. Alessandro Palombo, CEO & Co-Founder, smart dispute resolution start-up ‘JUR’, who presented ‘Decentralized ‘Justice’: today and tomorrow - How blockchain can impact the dispute resolution sector’; and Dr. Faye Wang, Senior Lecturer in Law, Brunel Law School, who presented the topic ‘Online Arbitration in the Age of Artificial Intelligence’. Dr. Julia Tomassetti (Coordinator and Assistant Professor, School of Law) moderated the roundtable discussion among the speakers.
The conference ended with the closing remarks of Dr. Julia Tomassetti who thanked all the conference speakers for their contributions to the conference. She also encouraged the speakers and participants to submit papers to the CityU Law Review. The conference was fruitful and thought-provoking, and the atmosphere throughout the whole conference was interactive.
The CityU Law Review Team and Dr Julia Tomassetti
冠狀病毒(COVID-19)導致不少地方實行封鎖措施，傳統面對面形式的法庭訴訟案件改以網上方法進行，因此，越來越多的法律專業人士和學者將焦點放在網上爭議解決(online dispute resolution)。 以‘網上爭議解決的潛力和未來’ (The Potential and Future of ODR)為題的網上會議討論了網上爭議解決及其在國際背景下的發展的優點、缺點和潛在影響。
此次會議由城大法學院和《城大法律評論》主辦，後者是由城大法學院出版的，並由學生編輯、同行評審的學術法學期刊。為了提高學者和學生有關網上爭議解決對法律行業未來的潛在影響的認識，《城市大學法律評論》邀請了學者討論與網上爭議解決領域有關的問題。對於從業者，學者和學生來說，這是一次寶貴的機會，可以分享他們對未來網上爭議解決的見解。是次網上會議大約有70位嘉賓參加了會議。
應邀請出席的演講者包括Gilt Chambers大律師事務所的大律師Kim Rooney女士，她亦為一邦國際網上仲調中心有限公司 (eBRAM) 的國際總監，她的演講題目為 ‘網上爭議解決的法律程序和《紐約公約》：符合《紐約公約》標準網上爭議解決的公平和透明的法律程序的必要性和內容’; Mitchell Hamline法學院法學教授David Allen Larson教授以‘網上爭議解決可以改善訴諸司法但必須包括所有人’為發言主題;城大法學院特約教授陶榮博士， 他亦為Gilt Chambers大律師事務所的大律師， 發表了題為‘黑暗中總有一線光明–冠狀病毒對網上爭議解決的影響’的演講; 智能爭議解決初創公司‘JUR’首席執行官兼聯合創始人Alessandro Palombo博士介紹了‘去中心化的‘司法’：今天和明天-區塊鏈如何影響爭議解決領域’; Brunel法學院法學高級講師Faye Wang博士發言主題為‘人工智能時代的在線仲裁’。城大法學院助理教授Julia Tomassetti博士為是次會議的統籌，並主持了圓桌會議討論。
會議由Julia Tomassetti博士致辭總結。她感謝所有會議發言人對會議的貢獻。她並鼓勵與會人士向《城大法律評論》積極投稿。是次會議富有成果，發人深思，整個會議的氣氛熱烈。
《城大法律評論》成員和Julia Tomassetti博士