The Chief Justice of India, Justice K.G. Balakrishanan today inaugurated the International Conference on ‘Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)’ organized by the International Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ICADR). The conference was attended by the Chairman, ICADR, Union Minister for Law & Justice, Dr. H.R. Bhardwaj, U.K.’s first woman “Lord of Appeal in Ordinary” Baroness Brenda Hale of Richmond and her husband Dr. Julian Farrand, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman, Shri Montek Singh Ahluwalia, MoS for Law & Justice, Shri K. Venkatapathy, the Judges of the Supreme Court, Justice Ashok Bhan, Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice K. K. Venugopal , Attorney General of India Shri Milion K. Banerjee, Jurists, representatives of corporate sector, senior advocates and other professionals.
Justice Balakrishnan said that to get rid of problems like congestion in courts, lack of adequate manpower and resources, cost, rigidity of procedure and lack of participatory roles, there is need to look at better options, approaches and avenues. The globalization of economy and the complexities of modern commercial transactions demand speedy and effective mechanism for resolving domestic and international disputes. This resulted as non-judicial ways of dispute resolution such as arbitration, mediation, conciliation and negotiation. India has a rich judicial system. But the country’s social and economic scene has undergone a sea change and the people are now more aware of legal rights. He appealed to the legal fraternity to come forward to meet the new challenges, with stress on ADR.
Law & Justice Minister, Dr. Bhardwaj said that the resolve of the people of India as enshrined in Article 39-A of the Constitution of India is to secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice on the basis of equal opportunity and that no citizen is denied access to justice on account of financial or other disability. Indian Legal and Judicial System stands on strong edifice and people get their disputes adjudicated in the Courts. However, the problem of delay in disposal of cases poses a challenge to the system.
Experience the world over tells us that adversarial litigation is not only a means of resolving disputes, therefore, an International Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution has been established at New Delhi to effectively implement the provisions of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. For promoting ADR modes of disputes settlement, the Government of India is vigorously pursuing continuation of Fast Track Courts, Computerisation of all Courts, programme of National Legal Literacy and setting up of Gram Nyayalayas. The Ministry for Law & Justice is engaged in drawing up Gram Nyayalayas Bill. The main objective of these local courts will be to secure justice, both civil and criminal, at the grassroot level to citizens.
Baroness Brenda Hale in her keynote address said that the courts are not in a position to bear the entire burden of justice system and a number of disputes lent themselves to resolution by alternative modes. She emphasized on the desirability of disputants to end disputes taking advantage of Alternative Dispute Resolution which provides procedural flexibility, saves valuable time and money besides help avoid the stress of conventional trial. In the present judicial system the litigating public are compelled to live with delays which lead to frustration, loss of faith among the disputants and gives rise to unethical and unsocial practices in the society. If we seek reasons for these delays we end up blaming one or the other, but on a deeper analysis it is the collective responsibility of all concerned. She cited examples of ADR in U.K. Judicial System and explained its usefulness to the society.
The Judges of the Supreme Court said that litigation does not always lead to a satisfactory result. It is expensive in terms of time and money. A case won or lost in court of law does not change the mindset of the litigants who continue to be adversaries and go on fighting. ADR systems enable the change in mental approach of the parties. The Deputy Chairman, Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia pleaded that the ADR should aim at giving speedy and low cost justice to the people. Its usefulness will be effective if they do not lead to any intervening appeal. The Government initiatives to help the people should aim at a permanent solution to the problems.
Conference discussed in detail the alternative dispute resolution system prevailing in the country and world over its pros and cons and how to make it more effective.
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(Release ID :24692)