Privatization is occurring throughout the public justice system, including courts, tribunals, and state-sanctioned private dispute resolution regimes. Driven by a widespread ethos of efficiency-based civil justice reform, privatization claims to decrease costs, increase speed, and improve access to the tools of justice. But it may also lead to procedural unfairness, power imbalances, and the breakdown of our systems of democratic governance. Civil Justice, Privatization, and Democracy demonstrates the urgent need to publicize, politicize, debate, and ultimately temper these moves towards privatized justice.

Written by Trevor C.W. Farrow, a former litigation lawyer and current Chair of the Canadian Forum on Civil Justice, Civil Justice, Privatization, and Democracy does more than just bear witness to the privatization initiatives that define how we think about and resolve almost all non-criminal disputes. It articulates the costs and benefits of these privatizing initiatives, particularly their potential negative impacts on the way we regulate ourselves in modern democracies, and it makes recommendations for future civil justice practice and reform.

Trevor C.W. Farrow, AB, BA/MA, LLB, LLM, PhD, is an associate professor at Osgoode Hall Law School. His teaching and research focus on the administration of civil justice, including legal process, legal and judicial ethics, development, and globalization.

Trevor C.W. Farrow's profile page

‘This is an arresting book that challenges the whole premise of private dispute resolution.’

Blacklock's Reporter Saturday June 14, 2014

‘For librarians wishing to make sure their collection is adequate to represent this topic, Prof. Farrow’s work will be an excellent guide for the foreseeable future.’

Canadian Law Library Review vol 40:04:2015