Collège Européen de Résolution des Conflits

Welcome to the site of the European Council for Alternative Dispute Resolution

The European Council for Alternative Dispute Resolution or C.E.R.C. (formerly the Paris Court of European Arbitration and Conciliation) is a non-profit association, the main purpose of which is to offer businesses various dispute resolution services. The parties to a dispute can choose the arbitrators and conciliators from among the Council’s members who are likely to offer an appropriate and confidential solution, and the resolution method from among the Council’s procedures that offers a timely solution at a reasonable cost. 

The European Council for Alternative Dispute Resolution is presided by Didier Ferrier, a Professor at Montpellier University and Director of the Business Law Doctorate, and regroups the skills of : 
- professors from Law Faculties in the European Community, 
- honorary magistrates from the Commercial Divisions of the French Supreme Court, the Paris Court of Appeal and the Paris Commercial Court, 
- renowned European professionals in the fields of law, figures and IT.

The precision of its arbitration regulations allows the arbitrators, many of whom are professional and lay magistrates whose honorary positions make them particularly available, to overcome foreseeable procedural obstacles with complete confidence. The flexibility of European Council facilitates their adaptation to all disputes, regardless of their nature and purpose. 

In this regard, the European Council for Alternative Dispute Resolution offers businesses three types of procedure :

1°) pre-litigation procedures, with :

• a prior opinion issued by an honorary or available magistrate, or by a business law professor, on the foreseeable results of judicial or arbitral litigation, if initiated, and that is likely to facilitate the conclusion of an approved settlement that is immediately enforceable,
  

• a conciliation procedure, which can lead to a binding settlement between the parties.

2°) arbitration procedures that can be adapted to all disputes, in particular those involving small and medium-sized businesses, due to the control over costs and timeframes, with :

• an ordinary arbitration procedure that complies with the requirements of law,

• a simplified arbitration procedure for disputes of less then EUR 200,000,

• an online arbitration procedure for small disputes.

3°) urgent procedures, which are handled by the Urgent Procedures Division at the request of the parties, who have reciprocally given themselves this option in an arbitration clause or who agree to this form of dispute resolution in an arbitration submission agreement, with :

• an interim arbitration procedure in which a single arbitrator urgently orders provisional, coercive measures, before completing the arbitration with a panel, with the agreement of the parties, in the capacity of President of an Arbitral Tribunal formed two months after being appointed,

• an accelerated arbitration procedure, for which the fixed two-month term can only be extended by agreement between the parties,

• a fixed-date arbitration procedure, reserved for specific disputes known as “conclave” arbitration, because the continual hearing of closing arguments, following an exchange of submissions, is followed by an award within 5 days at the most.

The cost of the arbitration services provided under Council regulations is limited, due to the fees billed by the arbitrators and the administrative expenses being moderated, which makes them all the more reasonable as their counterpart is the provision of reliable arbitration regulations.