The Role of the Courts in the New Justice System

Some articulations of the ‘multi-door' justice concept have assumed that the court is at the epicentre of the justice system and is critical in the context of dispute resolution referral. In recent decades, there has been a shift in how courts and conceptualized within the justice system and in the meaning of ‘justice.' More recent iterations of the concept of justice for example also locate and consider justice from the perspective the relationships that knit individuals and society together. Far from a new development, this conception of justice accords with some Ancient Greek notions of justice, and is a departure from deified notions of justice that suggest that justice equates to ‘judgment from above'. Recognising justice as both a ‘relationship' and ‘corrective principal', courts can now be located as both essential and supportive parts of the justice system. However this reconceptualization of the justice system suggests that more informal components of the justice sector can also be recognised as both supportive and essential. This reconceptualization has come about largely as a result of the Access to Justice Movement, and its broadening emphasis on self-determination beyond the adversarial enforcement of rights; a sort of ‘co-existential justice'. While the value of this kind of justice is still in some dispute, the practice of many ADR practitioners attests to the worthiness of outcomes in terms of both procedural and substantive justice, especially where there is an ongoing relationship at stake. For the ideal of justice as relationship, this are resounding implications for society. However, the question of the new role of courts in the new justice system must also consider the relationship between courts and ADR processes: how intertwined or distinct these areas are presents a number of procedural and organisational issues. Currently, the level of communication between courts, ADR practitioners and policy makers has not been sufficient to adequately address this. A return to an ethical conception of justice, one that locates justice both within relationship and within the rule of law and through judicial engagement, will assist different parts of the justice system in coordinating an effective systemic approach