United Nations – Consumer Dispute Resolution in the World

Consumer dispute resolution and redress mechanisms are considered essential by the United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection, aiming to provide fair, affordable, and efficient solutions while safeguarding consumer rights. The guidelines outline principles for designing effective dispute resolution mechanisms, including transparency and impartiality, particularly for cross-border cases. The UNCTAD Manual on Consumer Protection further elaborates on these guidelines, emphasizing the importance of harnessing dispute settlement mechanisms for consumer cases. Despite the global interest in developing coordinated consumer dispute resolution systems, such mechanisms are not universally accessible. Calls for the implementation of effective dispute resolution processes have been made by various countries, with a focus on creating internationally coordinated systems. The emergence of online dispute resolution mechanisms, such as ODR, are also gaining traction. The report uses the term CDR to encompass all methods, both online and offline, for resolving consumer disputes.