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Access to Resolution: Bridging the Gap in Everyday Civil Disputes Through Structured Early Intervention

Yetunde Sekinat Adebayo

Abstract

Everyday civil disputes—including debt-related conflicts, landlord-tenant disagreements, family disputes, and small-value contractual breakdowns—frequently generate significant social and economic disruption despite their relatively low monetary or procedural complexity. Yet many such disputes remain unresolved or become unnecessarily adversarial, not because they are inherently difficult to address, but because disputants often lack accessible, timely, and structured pathways to resolution before escalation occurs. This article examines the concept of a “resolution gap” in everyday civil conflict and argues that access to justice must be understood not only as access to courts, but also as access to practical mechanisms for early dispute engagement. Drawing on dispute systems design and access-to-justice scholarship, the paper explores how structured early intervention can reduce preventable escalation, improve usability for disputants, and preserve household, relational, and economic stability. It proposes a practical framework for identifying common low- to moderate-complexity civil disputes and matching them with proportionate, early- stage resolution pathways. The article contributes to ongoing discussions on justice accessibility by shifting attention from adjudication alone to the broader question of how ordinary disputes can be addressed earlier, more effectively, and with less social cost. Key words: Access to Justice; Conflict; Dispute; Resolution; Legal Framework

Keywords

Access to Justice; Conflict; Dispute; Resolution; Legal Framework

References

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