While litigation can be used to refer only to adjudication in court hearings, in fact the present litigation system extends beyond court adjudication to include a wider array of dispute resolution processes. 3.4 This issues paper is concerned with all processes that assist to resolve the disputes on matters within federal jurisdiction. The constitutional role of courts 3.5 Constitutional theory provides that the court system plays an integral role in the government of democratic societies. Courts provide an open forum to which citizens may come to assert or establish legal rights and to receive an enforceable determination of these rights. The process is subject to review through public scrutiny and a hierarchy of appellate courts.
Courts therefore provide a medium through which law is created, explained and applied.
The two aims of rule making and the authoritative determination of disputes are central to this characterisation of litigation. Adjudication forms a core activity of the litigation system. From this perspective some people view moves to streamline court proceedings or divert disputes into other resolution processes as threatening the essential role of judges which is 'not to maximise the ends of private parties, nor simply to secure the peace, but to explicate and give force to values embodied in authoritative texts such as the Constitution and statutes'. The Commission has identified five key objectives of the federal civil litigation system in performing the roles of rule making, determination and dispute resolution. The process should be just 3.10 Achieving justice is generally considered a fundamental objective of adjudication and dispute resolution.