CJI Chandrachud Advocates for Mediation as Dispute Resolution Mechanism for Individuals & Govt

GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 15th April. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Friday advocated for the adoption and promotion of mediation, including online mediation, as an alternative dispute resolution method to litigation, claiming that it would reduce court caseloads and have the potential to portray justice as collaborative rather than adversarial.

The CJI stated that it would especially assist women from marginalized communities as mediation makes the law less “intimidating” and “alienating.”

He went on to say that when the government, which is the biggest litigator but must “adopt the robes of a friend,” chooses this process, it sends a message that the government is not an adversarial opponent.

Justice Chandrachud was speaking at the Delhi High Court during the inaugural session of Samadhan’s national conference on “Mediation at the Dawn of a Golden Age.”

Samadhan, or the Delhi High Court Mediation and Conciliation Centre, was founded in May 2006 to provide mediation as an alternative dispute resolution method.

During the session, the high court signed an agreement with the Uttarakhand High Court to expand the mediation process in the hill state.

“We stand at the dawn of the golden age of mediation. Mediation should not be considered as just an alternate dispute resolution mechanism,” the CJI said.

“Mediation offers citizens a forum to not only determine the outcomes of their disputes, but also determine the criteria and standards by which those outcomes are evaluated…. Mediation holds the potential to change the way we understand justice itself — from an adversarial, formal process to a more collaborative, interest-based process. In other words, mediation is much more than a movement to de-clog the courts,” he said.

According to Justice Chandrachud, the Indian government will benefit from strategically implementing online dispute resolution mechanisms.

Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul of the Supreme Court, Delhi High Court Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, other high court judges including Justices Manmohan and Sanjeev Sachdeva, Attorney General (AG) R Venkataramani, and other dignitaries attended the event.

Venkataramani announced in his speech that he plans to establish the “Attorney General’s National Council of Mediator’s Watch” as well as the “Attorney General National Award for Mediation Achievers” to promote the practice.

He also advocated for more private mediation in the country.

Justice Kaul, recalling the Supreme Court’s appointment of a mediation panel in the Ayodhya dispute, said the mindset of choosing mediation for dispute resolution should be encouraged because it gives the parties autonomy and “innovative solutions.”

He also urged the AG to use his good office to ensure that the mediation bill, which is currently being debated in Parliament, “sees the light of day” soon.

“The litigant wants a solution. He does not want legal jargons,” Justice Kaul said as he highlighted that mediation was provided as a mode of dispute resolution in various laws, such as commercial courts law, consumer law as well as real estate law.

In his presidential address, Justice Chandrachud also said the process of mediation “preserves the ongoing relationship” between parties but has certain “inequities”, such as the scope of the mediators’ role.

“Mediation is seen as a means of serving the rule of law. The transformative characteristic of mediation is that it is a process which puts the decision-making authority in the hands of ordinary people, empowering the people involved in the dispute,” he said.

“Women, especially those belonging to marginalised communities, have often found formal legal proceedings to be alienating, having been historically prevented from accessing law on an equal footing. To mitigate this alienation, dispute resolution mechanisms, such as mediation, where parties express their grievances directly, take a step forward in making the law less intimidating,” the CJI added.

He further said mediation can help the young become active listeners and stretch their “short attention spans”, which is a serious problem today, and thus, emphasised on imparting mediation skills to them.

“I often say that as judges, we need to be careful that when we judge others, because that is our job, we must do so without being judgmental of others. In a similar vein, for all mediators out there, I would advise everyone to borrow a life lesson from the OTT football coach — Ted Lasso — ‘be curious, not judgmental’,” Justice Chandrachud said.