New Form of Justice in the Canadian Legal System

While the Canadian Legal System acts as an avenue to achieve justice, it often falls short. In fact, sometimes this system might actually create injustices for specific individuals. This has been evident through wrongful convictions, violated rights, or even a lack of supports and resources offered in our legal system. A lot of research and education has been and continues to be put into how to resolve the harms that the current system of law creates for those longing justice. This is where Alternative Dispute Resolution comes in. Alternative Dispute Resolution seeks to provide an alternative avenue for those seeking to correct the harms done to them. It can be through mediation, arbitration, and/or negotiation and ultimately works to create a plan that enables all parties involved in the wrongdoing to benefit from. The impact that Alternative Dispute Resolution has had on achieving justice and reconciliation has been significant, as all parties (victims, offenders, and communities) are able to feel restored. This is seen as Alternative Dispute Resolution has been successfully used in legal proceedings, workplace conflicts, or personal disputes.

This is a proposed workshop that will run interactively. The first section will be conducted lecture style, drawing on research, and will focus on discussing the basics of Alternative Dispute Resolution as well as the importance behind it. This part will have an emphasis in the legal context of Alternative Dispute Resolution and draw on a variety of court cases to highlight the shortcomings of the traditional legal system. The second proposed section of the workshop will be a series of interactive components. This part will explain how Alternative Dispute Resolution can be used in daily activities and will give audience members the chance to practice a variety of different conflict resolution techniques. The goal behind this workshop is to first educate people about Alternative Dispute Resolution and help them understand why it serves as a better option to achieve justice as opposed to traditional courts and prison sentences. The second goal is to provide people with application techniques so they can apply the concept of Alternative Dispute Resolution to their everyday lives, with the hopes that it contributes to a more positive community.

Dakoda Cluett is a third year Legal Studies Student at Ontario Tech University specializing in Alternative Dispute Resolution and minoring in Criminology and Justice. She currently holds the Lead Content Coordinator position at Raise Your Voice Enactus OT.