The term adjudicator essentially means a judge, without invoking the legal term. An ombudsman for example is a type of adjudicator in local government. An Adjudicator is a person who makes a preliminary judgment as to, for example, an unemployment insurance claim. Adjudication aims to be a quicker and much more cost effective process than the traditional Court procedure. An Adjudicator makes a decision which should keep a case from going to court. Where an adjudicator’s award may not be as enforceable as a judgement by a competent Court of Law, it will carry significant weight in subsequent Court proceedings. An Adjudicator should preferably have substantial contextual knowledge of the subject matter in dispute as generally no witnesses are called to testify. Although a case can be appealed to a judge, the adjudicator’s decision is frequently accepted as the same as what a judge would make, keeping many time-consuming cases out of the court system. Adjudication can also be conducted by a panel or tribunal. Adjudicators are the panel/tribunal that review all of the information from a background investigation, polygraph results and other investigative and validating procedures to support its Award/Determination. For instance, Adjudicators in a medical review board make disability and retirement benefit decisions. Adjudication is very useful in deciding upon technical matters.
The adjudication process is well-defined as described in this extract from the JBCC Adjudication Rules (Jan 2020):
Click HERE to download the JBCC Adjudication Rules (Jan 2020).
TYPICAL ADJUDICATION DOCUMENTS
THE ESSENCE OF ADJUDICATION
Adjudication is similar in nature as to submitting a matter to court on application. Characteristics:
- Confidentiality – Private unless decision is enforced through the court;
- Formalities – The rules for conducting the adjudication determines the formality. Adjudication is generally a formal process. The outline parameters are prescribed by the contract;
- Third party involvement and parties’ control – The Adjudicator controls the process in accordance with the Rules chosen by the parties. The Adjudicator is chosen by the parties or, failing agreement, an independent third party. Detail of the process is provided by the Adjudicator;
- Remedies – <Monetary remedies only (usually). The Adjudicator’s decision is binding and only becomes final if not disputed in terms of the agreed rules. It is an adversarial process;
- Communications – Must be addressed to both parties. Observance of the rules of natural justice;
- Results – Success or failure of “the process” is in the hands of the Adjudicator.
SUBMISSIONS TO ADJUDICATION
Parties making submissions for Adjudication should ensure that they:
- Present the submission like a story book. Remember the Adjudicator has no knowledge or background of the dispute and should be able to read the submission in a logical order.
- Compile documents preferably in a chronological order
- Show clear timelines of events and time elapsed between events.
- Notice periods as per contract and whether or not this was adhered to.
- Points of non-compliance with provisions of the Contract in dispute.
- Submissions should be presented in a neatly bound format.
- Content should be Indexed.
- Content should be Paginated.
- Annexures should be Referenced.
- Electronic submissions could be cross referenced using Hyperlinks
- Ensure all evidence is included in the submission.
- Conditions for conducting remote ADR should comply with the relevant Institute or Organisation’s rules and policies.
SUBSCRIBE as an ADJUDICATOR
- Anyone, who classifies themselves as an ADJUDICATOR as described above, is invited to register under this sector and to benefit from the discounted social and educational activities of The Experts Register.
- Engagement with other members is easily facilitated by using online conference programs such as ZOOM, SKYPE, WhatsApp etc. thus eliminating the need to travel and its associated costs or the physical attendance of workshops and seminars.
- Online systems such as ZOOM or SKYPE make live interaction with members and course presenters easily available to anyone with internet access.
- Payment platforms such as PAYFAST facilitate easy and quick payments to access the services provided by our Members, Tutors and Lecturers who are associated with The Experts Register.
- Adjudicators can supplement their income by providing their services at a Fee. There is a field in the application form where an indicative hourly rate must be entered. This rate will be displayed along with your proximity to enable Users to see if your profile meets their requirements. These filters are there to minimize unsuitable enquiries. It is only displayed when your profile meets with a User’s search criteria.
- The indicative fee should be fair and valid for most engagements but may be amended upon further consultation with the User (Client).
- Searches are made on a matching of Keywords contained in the description of your services, abilities and specialities. This text box is where you tell us what you are good at. Keywords which are not on the database will be added, subject to our filter for inappropriate content.
- Adjudicators may promote their services on this system and once introduced, further engage with the Client, as usual, without this system.
The subscription fee for this Reserved and Prestigious category of MEMBERSHIP is only ZAR R1,200 (±$80 US) per year. You could recover your membership fee many times over with your first consultation or appointment. (Even if you get only one appointment in 5 years!) You’ll benefit much more from the available discounts.
Register now at an Early Adopter’s discount : only ZAR R1 800 (±$120) for a full year!
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