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Arbitration Centers – More and Better Justice for All Citizens!

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ALTERNATIVE TO THE COURTS IS BORN IN BENFICA BY UAL

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Economic Journal

The newspaper Económico highlighted today the protocol signed between the Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa and the Parish Council of Benfica, being the 1st in the country to join the arbitration center in the full range of its services.

BENFICA PARISH BOARD JOINS ARBITRATION CENTER FOR CONFLICT RESOLUTION

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The Benfica neighborhood is getting closer, reinforcing a vast set
of services that the Parish Council has been providing to improve
the daily life of its community, which is now joined by a Conflict Arbitration and Mediation Center, which allows the implementation of an alternative to
courts in the parish, as part of a service provided by the Arbitration Center of the Autonomous University of Lisbon (UAL).
Proximity Justice becomes a reality, in a unique project in the city of Lisbon in the universe of Parish Councils in our country, which allows
democratized, rapid and efficient access to mediation, conciliation and arbitration of conflicts. Carlos Cardoso, Executive Director of the Arbitration Center
from the Autonomous University of Lisbon (CAUAL), discussed how this service will work and what the benefits are for citizens.

What is an Arbitration Center?

An Arbitration Center is an entity that receives and helps resolve conflicts, arising from the most varied entities, namely citizens
common, families, or companies.
The Arbitration Center of the Autonomous University of Lisbon, which will operate in the Benfica neighborhood, is the only one that can receive any type of conflict
legally arbitrable. While the others are of specific competence (for
example of consumer, commercial, administrative or insurance), we can
receive anyone. We cannot accept conflicts in a criminal context or
conflicts that deal with unavailable rights. Unavailable rights are
those that the holder cannot dispose of of his/her free will
and, therefore, which you cannot give up, such as: subsidies
holidays or Christmas, the right to life, among others... everything else, like the
family issues, work, consumption, neighborhood conflicts, with
housing (condominiums, rentals), in a sporting context, in the context of healthcare provision, can be treated at this Center
Arbitration. Basically, it is an alternative to the courts with several advantages
associated.

What are these advantages and benefits?

There are three advantages I would like to highlight. The speed in resolving the
conflict, low cost and the degree of satisfaction of the parties. Why? Because is
given to the parties involved the so-called empowerment. The party collaborates and participates in resolving its own conflict.
There are several ways to approach conflicts: through mediation, conciliation and
by arbitration. This arbitration is a hybrid means, because it is similar to
the judicial courts, where there is a judge-arbiter, who will test and pronounce
a sentence, which is adjudicatory and authoritative. Therefore, it is binding and has
the same value as a sentence from a first instance arbitration court.
It's exactly the same thing as a regular courtroom, but with these
advantages that are specific to these alternative means of conflict resolution. Only arbitration is used, which is the most expensive and least famous method,
when conciliation or mediation fails, as the intervention of judge-arbitrators is necessary, in addition to the instruction of the process.
Another of the great advantages of this service is the humanization of justice. Us
we are in front of a mediator, at an informal table, talking about the conflict that is troubling us at that moment. We are not in a court where
There is a whole solemnity that, in some way, restrains the citizen.
The guarantee of privacy and confidentiality is also very important. In court this
doesn't happen, everyone, if they want, sits on a bench and listens to what is happening.
is happening there, except in more serious cases. This guarantee of privacy
promotes cooperative environments.
In arbitration, there is also a special advantage, in that the parties can choose the judge they wish to judge the case in question, and can also
define the deadline in which you want to see the process completed. While in
judicial court we wait and despair for the process to end,
there is a sentence, here we can say from the outset: “look, let’s do the
arbitration, and this cannot exceed three months. In three months I want
the decision. So this makes all the difference.

How it works?

When a process comes from a citizen or a company,
of a family, CAUAL appoints a conflict mediator, (all CAUAL conflict mediators are certified by the Ministry of Justice). This
is important due to the agreement that will be obtained, being signed by a mediator
certificate has executive force.
The mediator contacts the parties for a mediation session to help them
to resolve the conflict. He is a communication facilitator. Does not impose, no
solves the parties' problems, but, through communication techniques,
helps them to resolve the problem themselves.
You do not have to know the merits of the case before you, nor be a lawyer or
understand correctly, or even what is being discussed. When people
If they get angry and conflict, what happens? They cut off communication. And when they cut off communication, the conflict will escalate, because it
became dysfunctional. When communication continues to be made, conflict is
functional and, therefore, easier to resolve. What the mediator does is reestablish and facilitate communication, so that it flows between the parties and they can
build solutions and they reach a satisfactory agreement for both.
The CAUAL settlement fee in the mediation/conciliation phase is 98%. No
they reach arbitration and that is very significant. People come resolved
the conflicts that affect them so much, in the space of a week or two.
What are the differences between mediation, conciliation and arbitration?
The mediator helps the parties to restore dialogue, but does not provide solutions,
does not suggest a path to solving the problem. In conciliation, the conciliator suggests to the parties a solution to the issue that concerns them. In the area
of consumption, for example, when a consumer has a conflict with a
service provider, the relationship is temporary. So he went there, got angry,
and through conciliation we suggest alternatives to the parties: “why not
before like this or do you accept this from him?”
Suggestions are made and because the parties do not have to maintain the relationship to
In the future, the problem will be resolved this way, through conciliation. Mediation is used
more with families or in work relationships, because the relationship has to be
maintained, everything has to be discussed at the mediation table. In the case of family conflicts, it is rare that the problem is resolved in a single session, but the rate
of agreements reached is very high. In family matters, conflicts
The most common are those related to divorces, the regulation of parental responsibilities, inheritances, among others.
When these alternatives fail, the conflict moves to arbitration, then
It is an arbitration court that will decide.
If there is no agreement reached through mediation or conciliation, the arbitration court is constituted and the judge-arbitrator delivers a sentence. Why is that
Is it an arbitration center and not just an arbitration court? Because it is a center that
it encompasses several alternative means of resolving disputes and not just arbitration, which is why it is a “center” and not an arbitration court. We want to achieve
much desired social peace. If we have fewer conflicts, we have fewer problems, and we increase people's well-being. It's for the people we work for, for their well-being.
No one is obliged to participate, in accordance with the Principle of Voluntariness, the parties accept if they so choose, there is no obligation.
We also have the confidentiality that I was talking about, which is extremely important
and also a very important Principle which is called the Principle of Executority. What does this mean? Any agreement that is signed, by
a certified conflict mediator, does not need to be approved by any other entity and gains executive force. In case of non-compliance, the
parties may immediately have the agreement executed in its entirety or in
unfulfilled part

What are the specificities of the Center that will open in Benfica?

Benfica will have conflict resolution mechanisms with competences
far superior to those that already exist in the entire city. What is the big difference in relation to judicial courts? The entire process is voluntary. To the
people accept if they want, while in judicial means, the parties are
notified to be present.
If a citizen has a family, work, consumer conflict, or something else…
this is where it comes from. The Parish Council does not simply call CAUAL.
People will be here to help the population and provide answers. Parish Council employees will take note of a summary of the conflict,
to be sent to the Arbitration Center.
We approach the conflict, according to what we think is the most appropriate response. If it is mediation, for example, I appoint the mediator,
who contacts the parties and will help them resolve their conflict on the premises
from Baldaya Palace