Abstract
This article addresses a way to support out-of-court dispute resolution which has not yet been considered in civil law systems: the introduction of apology legislation. Apology legislation encompasses a combination of statutory provisions that reduce or remove the adverse legal consequences of apologizing. The idea underpinning this device is to create a safe harbour in which people do not feel inhibited to apologize. This is based on the premise that once an apology is tendered, parties will come to an amicable resolution of their conflict more likely and more easily. The first apology act was introduced in Massachusetts in the US in 1986. Since then, the phenomenon has spread throughout the common law world (Australia, Canada, England and Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Hong Kong). Civil law systems are a remarkable blind spot in this continuously expanding field …
Vandenbussche, Wannes, Introducing Apology Legislation in Civil Law Systems. A New Way to Encourage Out-of-Court Dispute Resolution (August 23, 2018).
First posted 2018-09-01 06:23:38
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