Chinmaya IAS Academy – Current Affairs Chinmaya IAS Academy – Current Affairs
- While addressing the National Judicial Conference on Mediation and Information Technology, the President advocated the concept of Mediation in the Judicial Process.
- Mediation is a voluntary, binding process in which an impartial and neutral mediator facilitates disputing parties in reaching a settlement.
- A mediator does not impose a solution but creates a conducive environment in which disputing parties can resolve all their disputes.
- Mediation is a tried and tested alternative method of dispute resolution. It has proved to be a great success in the cities of Delhi, Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Nagpur, Chandigarh and Aurangabad.
- Mediation is a structured process where a neutral person uses specialised communication and negotiation techniques. Litigants participating in the mediation process have unequivocally endorsed it.
- It is a settlement process whereby disputing parties arrive at mutually acceptable agreements.
- Other than mediation there are some other dispute resolution methods such as Arbitration, Negotiation and Conciliation.
- Any person who undergoes the required 40 hours training stipulated by the Mediation and Conciliation Project Committee of the Supreme Court (SC)can be a mediator.
- He also needs to have at least ten mediations resulting in a settlement and at least 20 mediations in all to be eligible to be accredited as a qualified mediator.
Role of a Mediator
- To be Impartial And Neutral.
- Manage interaction between the parties
- Facilitate communication between the parties.
- Identify barriers to an agreement.
- Identify interests of the parties.
- Develop terms of agreement.
Way Forward
- The Covid-19 pandemic has increased the prominence of mediation as a means for dispute resolution. The plethora of cases initiated by the pandemic warrants a swift and effective redressal and mediation can be the perfect solution.
- However, there are a lot of challenges that restrict the effectiveness of mediation. The existing framework of having different mediation rules for different High Courts has further contributed to the element of uncertainty in the mediation process.
SOURCE: THE HINDU,THE ECONOMIC TIMES,MINT
