Institutions for Conflict Resolution (COI)

Sustainable conflict resolution

(Sustainable) effects of conflict resolution through judicial interventions.

Traditionally, the view has been that the scope which the courts can offer for conflict resolution is limited against the background of the (constitutional) duties and powers of the judge. In recent decades, however, civil and administrative law cases have seen an increasing focus on and support for conflict resolution in addition to the legal assessment and settlement of disputes by the court. This increasing attention to conflict resolution can be understood against the background of the critical comments that have been heard in recent decades about the operation of the law and the functioning of the judiciary. What is relevant in this respect is the widely held feeling that in many cases the judicial decision contributes insufficiently to the sustainable resolution of the problem or conflict that forms the basis of the legal proceedings. With its increasing attention to conflict resolution, the judiciary aims to respond to the aforementioned criticism and to find a lasting solution to the problems and conflicts between the parties. As yet, there is no empirical research into the lasting effects of judicial interventions. The present longitudinal study provides an answer to this question.