STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF ADR METHODS USED BY COURTS AND VCAT
The Strengths of ADR are that is is much less formal than a court hearing, it's confidential meaning that the public do not have access such as were a courtroom does, it's flexible to each parties need and is very cost effective as one session at VCAT will cost around 40 dollars. ADR is also much quicker than a court hearing as with VCAT you will wait around a week to a month while with court your wait can be more than a year depending on the current backlog of cases waiting to be heard. However ARD is not binding (excluding Arbitration) and one or more parties may not want to attend the resolution due to many reasons such as animosity or just not wanting to attend. Since you are not being represented by a lawyer, one party may be stronger or be more manipulative than the other.
Judicial Determination is binding and therefore can be enforced legally unlike ARD which excluding Arbitration is not binding. Judicial officers are also in most cases highly trained professionals with lot's of experience and therefore can hand down a more accurate and fair decision which will satisfy both parties. It's also appropriate for a lot of criminal and civil cases unlike ADR which is more suited for civil cases. However Judicial Determination is normally quite expensive and time-consuming and does not offer the flexibility offered by ARD. Judicial officers are also bound by formality and because of this, sometimes a party will leave the case, dissatisfied with the final outcome .
Judicial Determination is binding and therefore can be enforced legally unlike ARD which excluding Arbitration is not binding. Judicial officers are also in most cases highly trained professionals with lot's of experience and therefore can hand down a more accurate and fair decision which will satisfy both parties. It's also appropriate for a lot of criminal and civil cases unlike ADR which is more suited for civil cases. However Judicial Determination is normally quite expensive and time-consuming and does not offer the flexibility offered by ARD. Judicial officers are also bound by formality and because of this, sometimes a party will leave the case, dissatisfied with the final outcome .