Prof. Dr. Leyla Keser Berber

The Solution

Just like disputes, finding a solution to a dispute is supposedly an “art” that goes back in history as old as the history of the human being. The reason to call it “art” originates from the fact that mediation and conciliation constitute art that contains elements such as creativity, ethic, empathy, psychology, socio-cultural values, manners and customs, usages, traditions, analytical and questioning thinking in its structure. Beyond any specific education or training, one must primarily maintains these values on its own in order to find optimized solutions to reconciliate parties in conflict.

Technology and digital transformation obligated the dispute resolution system and methods to be implemented fast, pragmatically, and effectively. In this vein, many e-commerce-oriented enterprises started online dispute resolution services concerning the disputes between sellers and buyers to which they have rendered service on their platform for years. To name a few that are found thriving in that sector, we could mention eBay and PayPal. Moreover, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many business models, shopping, education/formation, and socialization have shifted towards the Internet. That shift indispensably impacted the resolution of the disputes that are to arise between buyer and seller, user/customer, and companies to become fast, effective, and reliable in proportion with the time required for the establishment of a legal relationship between those parties.

At this point, he Solution of Istanbul Bilgi University Faculty of Law comes into scene, by introducing dispute resolution methods from a “de lege ferenda” perspective in light of the technological developments, needs, and expectations and on the other hand, the Solution provides thinking patterns uniquely designed ways of thinking on the solution generation process.