The Ombuds Blog: JIOA: A Plan for a National Ombuds for Consumer Dispute Resolution

March 18, 2020

JIOA: A Plan for a National Ombuds for Consumer Dispute Resolution

The latest article in the peer-reviewed Journal of the International Ombudsman Association promotes the use of Ombuds as an alternative to the widespread mandatory arbitration in consumer dispute. The author, Mala Sharma, is a consultant and attorney and PhD candidate at the School of Law, University of Surrey. The full article, "A Fair Alternative to Unfair Arbitration: Proposing an Ombudsman Scheme for Consumer Dispute Resolution in the USA," is now available online.

Here's the abstract:

Mandatory arbitration is facing a backlash in the United States of America. Recently proposed legislations are geared to severely restrict the scope of mandatory arbitration in consumer disputes. This Article proposes the creation of a new hybrid ombudsman scheme on the lines of the Financial Ombudsman Service found in the UK for resolving consumer disputes in the US. The multi-tier alternative dispute resolution system integrating mediation, recommended settlements and adjudications adopted by the FOS internally and the unique position it enjoys in relation to various actors such as the regulators, courts, industry and consumers within the dispute resolution framework enables it to not only act as a grievance addressal point but also as an agent of change. It is about time unfair mandatory arbitration is replaced with fair alternatives such as a hybrid ombudsman scheme.

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Organizational Ombuds

Organizational Ombuds serve as a confidential, independent, neutral and informal dispute resolution resource for a specific entity. They are accessible to a defined population and can advocate for fairness. These unique characteristics distinguish Organizational Ombuds from Classical Ombuds, mediators, arbitrators, and other alternative dispute resolution professionals. The term "Ombuds" is shorthand for "Ombudsman," "Ombudsperson" and "Ombuds Officer," which also are used widely.

Some other variants include:

Austria -- Ombudsstelle

Brazil -- Ouvidor

Croatia -- pravobranitelji

France -- médiateur/defénseur

Germany -- Ombudspersonen

Italy -- difensore

Netherlands -- ombudspersoon

Norway -- ombudet

Poland -- Rzecznik

Portugal -- provedor

Russia -- омбудсмен

Spain -- ombudsman organizacional

Sweden -- studentombud

Switzerland -- ombudsmann

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March 18, 2020

JIOA: A Plan for a National Ombuds for Consumer Dispute Resolution

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