This course aims to explore the whole continuum of dispute resolution methods and techniques which may be a replacement for civil litigation, such as negotiations, mediation and conciliation (with a number of intermediary forms) and arbitration. The students will be acquainted with the general theory of non-judicial dispute resolution as an alternative to the proceedings within the institutions of the state justice system, and will learn their main characteristics and special features of the individual methods of alternative dispute resolution (ADR). In the course the students will have an opportunity to analyze and interpret the law of arbitration and mediation at a national level (e.g. Croatian law and the law in the region). However, special attention is also devoted to new trends related to the use of ADR at a European and international level.

The objectives of this course are:
1. To enable students to define and distinguish various alternatives to court litigation.
2. To help students in acquiring the skill of recognizing a chance for resolving legal problems without resorting to courts.
3. To provide students with basic and intermediate skills necessary for the use of negotiation, mediation and arbitration.

Subjects to be studied:
1. The relation of the state justice system and its alternatives: a general survey of the methods of out-of-court dispute settlement;
2. Types of disputes and specific way how to resolve them: disputes regarding rights and dispute regarding interests;
3. Direct and indirect negotiations and techniques of dispute settlement involving a third impartial person; principled negotiations as a method of getting to yes;
4. Mediation/conciliation: evaluative and facilitative methods;
5. The oldest member of the ADR family: arbitration;
6. Out-of-court dispute settlement in specific fields: civil, commercial, family disputes; individual and collective labor disputes.