ARCHITECTURE, RITUALS, AND NORMS IN CIVIL PROCEDURE

Abstract

In this article, the authors identify two important gaps in the literature on civil justice reform, both of which relate to the concept of stability in the law as an added value of public adjudication. The article aims to suggest avenues for future research on civil justice reform, especially in light of increasing recourse to private modes of dispute resolution. First, the article draws attention to the role played by judicial rituals and architecture in court-based, public adjudication, as a means of generating stability in the law and enhancing the legitimacy of dispute resolution. Second, from a more theoretical perspective, the article brings out the added value of formulating and formalizing legal norms through a public adjudicative process. Stability in the law encourages human agency and dignity by permitting individuals to form expectations and make decisions about their lives, acting in reliance on the law and the values that the law promotes. The value of stability must be taken into account in future research and policy work on civil justice reform, particularly as private justice, which lacks many of the characteristics that encourage stability in public adjudication, is increasingly explored as a potential solution to problems of access to justice.