Center for the Future of Dispute Resolution (CFDR)

Research

About our research

The Center for the Future of Dispute Resolution (CFDR) brings together a group of researchers dedicated to the study of dispute resolution. Rather than focusing solely on how dispute resolution functions today, CFDR takes a forward-looking perspective: How will — and how should — dispute resolution evolve in response to key societal developments? 

Two major areas of focus are digitalization and out-of-court dispute resolution. These themes give rise to four main research streams, which reflect CFDR’s core mission: 

  1. Human vs. Machine: examining the role, position, and added value of the human decision-maker in an increasingly automated, data-driven legal environment.
  2. Efficiency vs. Legitimacy: exploring how procedural innovations can enhance effectiveness without undermining fairness, party autonomy, or broader concerns of justice.
  3. Fairness Perceptions in Conflict Resolution: investigating how perceptions of (un)fairness shape decision-making, influence the acceptance of outcomes, and affect the long-term sustainability of conflict resolution processes.
  4. Blockchain and Legal Architecture: analysing how blockchain technologies give rise to new forms of ordering and enforcement, and how these developments impact the foundations and future design of dispute resolution systems.

To answer the question “Quo vadis, dispute resolution?”, CFDR adopts an international, comparative, and interdisciplinary approach. The Center actively fosters collaboration across disciplines — including law, technology, neuro-psychology, and economics — to ensure that future dispute resolution systems are not only effective and accessible, but also ethically and institutionally robust. By doing so, CFDR aims to inform policy and contribute to shaping the next generation of dispute resolution.

Main Research Topics

Digitalization

  • E-signatures and e- awards and judgments
  • Optimalization of arbitration processes

Europeanization

  • Growing influence of EU law in the field of dispute resolution

  • GDPR, AI Act and actors of justice

  • Dispute resolution and e-commerce

Artificial Intelligence

  • Centaur arbitration?????

  • The human persona of the decision-maker/facilitator?????
  • Benefits and challenges of AI use cases in arbitration
  • Deepfakes and the liar’s dividend

Conflict prevention

  • Apology legislation

  • Acknowledgment of wrongdoing

Citizen participation

  • Mediation and facilitation during participatory processes

  • Fairness and sustainability of conflict resolution processes

Ethics

  • Impact of personality & human qualities of mediators and facilitators

  • Virtue ethics and ADR

PhD research

Ongoing PhD Research (in alphabetical order)

  • Elise Dauw : De rechter en het voorwerp van de vordering (Promotor: Piet Taelman)
  • Amelie De Groote: Prejudiciële vragen aan het Grondwettelijk Hof: de werking van antwoordarresten in de rechtspraak (promotor ??)
  • Nadja Delbarre: When do things seem fair, and why does it matter? Moving towards a brain-wise approach in conflict resolution (Promotor ??)
  • Kevin Ongenae: Arbitral Awards for the Third and Fourth Revolution: E-signatures in Arbitration and the Digitization of Arbitral Awards (Promotor: Maud Piers)
  • Xianqi Peng : Arbitrability of Disputes involving International Public-Private Partnership Contracts (Promotor: Maud Piers)
  • Xiya Wang: Blockchain in Civil Litigation: Blockchain in Civil Litigation: Procedural Challenges and Opportunities for Integration into the Civil Justice System (Promotor ???)

Successful PhD Research (in order of obtaining degree)

Publications