Title:
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Online arbitration for cross-border business-to-consumer electronic-commerce disputes : an examination of procedural issues
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This thesis discusses procedural issues relating to the resolution of cross-border
business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce disputes by online arbitration. Resolving
such disputes in national courts of law creates jurisdictional dilemmas. Online
dispute resolution (ODR), on the other hand, avoids the jurisdiction problem, while
providing the parties with expeditious and economical solutions to online disputes,
given that ODR mechanisms could be fair, .affordable and effective. Amongst various
models of ODR, online arbitration could serve as a backbone of an emerging
international legal framework for online consumer disputes due to its formal and
quasi-judicial nature, as international commercial arbitration has helped create the
current international legal system for international business transactions through the
accumulation of arbitration practice and case law.
However, for online arbitration to take part m resolving cross-border B2C
e-commerce disputes, three procedural issues have to be examined. Firstly, online
arbitral proceedings have to be fair. The fundamental principles of procedural
fairness in adjudicatory processes have to be implemented in order to provide fair
treatment for the parties. Secondly, a pre-dispute consumer arbitration agreement has
to be enforceable in order for the arbitration to proceed. Factors affecting the
enforceability of a pre-dispute consumer arbitration agreement under different legal
systems have to be addressed. Finally, an enforcement mechanism for the arbitral
awards has to be in place in case of non-voluntary performance by the losing party.
As no international enforcement mechanism exists for arbitral awards in the area of
international consumer disputes, this thesis proposes a quasi-enforcement procedure
via current international credit card clearing networks. Combined with online
arbitration this international framework could provide effective and efficient
resolution to online consumer disputes while the results of arbitration could be
implemented through the established international credit card clearing network via a
reversed payment process.
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