had been wrongly excluded. He submitted an election petition – a complaint – for a review by an election court. Winning candidate Mark Oaten and his party were not sure how the case would be decided, and also knew that defending the case and losing could lead to a big bill for costs (see box 6.14). He therefore did not oppose the case in court, and a new election was declared. Part of Oaten’s campaign platform was ‘Malone is a sore loser who has forced an unnecessary election’. In the re-run election, Oaten defeated Malone by over 20,000 votes. Oaten’s politician’s judgement of the best way to protect his interest turned out to be correct. 571. Compromise is the peaceful settlement, either express or tacit, of a dispute, without recourse by the two disputants to a third person or agency to help settle the dispute. Compromise requires the bilateral or multilateral agreement of both or all the disputants involved. 572. Mediation and conciliation are similar insofar as in both the parties use an impartial third party to resolve their dispute. In mediation, the mediator sets out to bring the parties closer together while acting as a passive facilitator. In conciliation, the conciliator is an active participant in the negotiation, proposing possible solutions to the disputants in order to arrive at one that is acceptable to both or all disputants. Mediation is not subject to specific formulas or rules, whereas conciliation is legally regulated. 573. Arbitration arises from the parties’ agreement to use an arbitrator. The final decision, normally called an ‘award’, is be handed down based on either the law or equity. Arbitration has characteristics similar to judicial decisions because, on its endorsement by a court, the award takes on the characteristics of a court decision or judgement, meaning that it is binding on the disputants and legally enforceable. 574. Although arbitration procedures are generally agreed beforehand by the disputants, they are expected to observe the due process of law. This requires a fair hearing including the right to a defence, the submission and examination of evidence and the cross-examination of facts before a final decision is taken. 575. Some countries provide for two methods of arbitration, depending on the nature of the dispute: arbitration by institutions or agencies established by law or arbitration by individuals freely appointed by the disputants themselves. Even where the law provides for institutionally-based arbitration, the parties to a dispute are free to choose whether they want to opt for arbitration or litigation through a normal court (in the electoral realm, examples are Indonesia in 2004 and Afghanistan in 2005). 187 8. Alternative EDR mechanisms (cont.)