The Role of Law in Conflict Resolution

Okay. ‘The Role of Law in Conflict Resolution,’ what a mouthful! …Anyway, where was I? Yeah, conflict resolution.

So you are here because you have no clue on what law has to do with conflict resolution, or you just felt like seeing what this article entails.

Well, get ready for your mind to be blown and your lids to be flipped! We’re going into the minds of all Mr. Law and what he thinks about conflict.

Pretty scary, huh? Do not sweat it. I am going with you.

First thing first, what is conflict?

You might think this question unnecessary, but it is not. Before you can solve a problem, you have to understand what the problem is and what the solution can be.

“Conflict is often defined as differences within the wants of people who have gathered to realize a particular goal.”

As long as people still roam about on the earth, conflict is the surest and natural event that will take place at any point in time.

When I think about conflict, I see it as one of the deadliest impurities in the very air we take into our bodies and what covers us snugly from day to night throughout our lives.

The conflict escalates the level of danger in the smallest things to heights that we cannot even begin to comprehend.

It can affect everyone and everything, from a trivial disagreement between couples over infidelity to a severe clash between two business partners over who does the most work.

Do you know how we were saying just now that conflict escalates a lot of things? Well, I’m going to grace you with a few examples. Brace yourselves!

Let’s start with the couples, shall we?

Take, for instance, a husband and wife jointly opened a business where each party contributed immensely to the success of that venture. Shortly after that, there arose a disagreement between them due to the infidelity of the husband.

They could not manage the problem.

It escalated to divorce.

The issue now is how to settle the interest of the two in that business.

Do you see it? The conflict has once again prevailed here. The problem was the husband’s fault, but if they hadn’t been so angry, there would have been apologies and trust for a while.

Slowly, they would have started to love again, and all previous atrocities would have been forgiven. But conflict won, thereby leading them to divorce and, subsequently, the issue of settling their interests in the business.

Take another look at a situation whereby a businessman contracted the help of an apprentice. The apprentice took the job with the notion that he would be settled after staying with the businessman for seven years.

The boy worked diligently for five years and was accused shortly by his boss of stealing when he had not taken anything. He was asked to go back to his parents in disgrace.

The compensation of the boy after seven years was not addressed. The boy ended up with not only a lousy record of stealing, but also no pay for his five years of work.

His parents probably did not dare to ask for the money their son had worked for because they were afraid of the business man’s ‘rage’ and their son’s ‘stealing.’

If the parents of the apprentice knew that they could go through a law firm to demand the man pay them for their son’s five years of work, I think they’d most definitely have spoken out.

You can now see the role of law in dispute resolution here.

If human beings are left without rules and regulations, anarchy will thrive in such a state. Ex-judicial means would abide in our midst as fish in the water.

There are various ways of handling issues that arise in the course of human transactions. It is called conflict resolution; it ranges from formal or adjudicative process to informal or consensual processes.

So we have been able to see what conflict resolution with the appropriate scenarios. However, let’s take a peek at how Mr. Law pokes his noble nose in dispute resolution.

• Avoid wars: We all know that the most unpleasant event we could ever experience is a war. To think of it, the people who lived through World War One and Two were survivors. I’d probably bury my head like an ostrich if that happened again!

On the bright side, here comes our “Iron man”-law. This fellow over here makes a mutual agreement with the parties involved. He ensures there isn’t any problem. By doing that, everyone has a peaceful home to go to.

• Helps to promote justice: Take a look at the two scenarios that I gave above. Those couples couldn’t live under the same roof, so they had to take their case to a law firm.

Imagine if there wasn’t any law firm to resolve their dispute. What do you think would have happened? Hmm… let’s not dwell on that. 

What about the boy who was unduly accused by his boss?

There wasn’t any evidence to prove that he was a thief. The boss probably didn’t want to pay the poor boy and thought of a crafty way to achieve that.

Whichever the case, the ignorance of the parents prevented them from taking the matter up.

Can you now see the role of law in conflict resolution?

It would have prevented the boy from that embarrassment if he was innocent.

Or it could have equally meted out the appropriate punishment to the boy if he was found guilty. 

Right…so this is the secret behind Mr. Law’s victories, eh? Interesting.

Well, I’m grateful I have been able to break it down to you, beautiful readers.

Next time you have an issue with someone, don’t exchange punches.

Instead, walk right away to the next law firm and get them to resolve the dispute in a sane way. Got it? Glad to help.