Stating that the word ‘justice’ encompasses a lot and it has rightly been stressed in the Preamble of our Constitution, President Ram Nath Kovind asked, but do all people have equal access to justice? Inaugurating a two-day National Judicial Conference on Mediation and Information Technology, being organised by the High Court of Gujarat, at Ekta Nagar, Narmada district of Gujarat, he wondered how access to justice can be improved for all?
Therefore, he said that both the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the Judiciary are important for many reasons; but to his mind, they are important as they will help make the system more efficient and thus better able to dispense justice.
The President said that during the last two decades, all stakeholders have recognised mediation as an effective tool for dispute resolution and encouraged it. As several legal luminaries have observed, most of the cases pending in the courts between individuals in respect to civil rights are such that they do not need adjudication. The parties in such cases can redress their dispute amicably through a structured intervention of mediators.
The President said that mediation aims to settle the dispute not by any command or authority. Rather, it encourages the parties to arrive at the settlement by systematic mediation sittings by the mediator.
The legislation also provides an incentive: if any pending litigation is settled by mediation, the entire court fees deposited by the litigant party are refunded. Thus, truly speaking, in mediation everyone is a winner.
The President pointed out that the concept of mediation is yet to find widespread acceptance across the country. He noted that enough trained mediators are not available in some places. Infrastructural facilities at many mediation centres need upgradation.
He said that these bottlenecks have to be addressed at the earliest to help a wider population benefit from this effective tool. Moreover, all stakeholders should display a positive attitude towards mediation, if we want to achieve desired results. In this regard, training can make a lot of difference. It can be provided at different levels, from introductory courses at the induction stage to refresher courses for mid-career professionals. He noted that the Mediator and Conciliation Project Committee of the Supreme Court has been doing a great job by organising training programmes in the states.
