ALETERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION IN INDIA

Speedy disposal of cases and delivery of quality justice is an enduring agenda for all who are concerned with administration of justice.

In this context, there is an imminent need to supplement the current infrastructure of Courts by means of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is the way to resolve the dispute outside the court in an amicable and peaceful manner with the mutual assent of both the parties. Dispute presages to a difference of view ensuing in differences concerning the interests, rights and liabilities of the concerned parties. It is different from conflict in respect of magnitude and occasion. The ADR process provides inclusive justice to the persons affianced or involved in conflicts and legal disputes. It is a chosen practice, which has acquired legal recognition over a period of time. It is being increasingly more accepted as an alternative to the prolonged litigation, a universal phenomenon. The first footsteps towards taking resort to alternate methods of dispute resolution in India can be traced back as early as The Bengal Regulation Act, 1772 which provided that in cases of disputed accounts, parties are to submit the same to arbitrators whose decision are deemed a decree and shall be final. The Regulation Act, 1781 envisaged that judges should recommend the parties to submit disputed to mutually agreed person. The Arbitration Act, 1940 laid down the framework within which domestic arbitration was conducted in India, while the other two Acts dealt with foreign awards. The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 has repealed the Arbitration Act, 1940 (10 of 1940) and the Arbitration (Protocol & Convention) Act, 1937 (6 of 1937) and the Foreign Awards (Recognition and Enforcement) Act, 1961 under section 85 of the 1996 Act. The entire globe of ADR can be further subdivided under two major subheads which are arbitration and mediation. Arbitration is the procedure by which parties agree to submit their disputes to an independent neutral third party, known as an arbitrator, who considers arguments and evidence from both sides, then hands down a final and binding decision. In contrast to arbitration, mediation is a process whereby the parties involved utilize an out-side party to help them reach a mutually agreeable settlement. Rather than dictate a solution to the dispute between the two parties, the mediator; who maintains scrupulous neutrality throughout; suggests various proposals to help the two parties reach a mutually agreeable solution. CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE AND ADR Courts are required to actively manage cases, and the Civil Procedure Rules state that this means encouraging the parties to use an alternative dispute resolution procedure if the court

considers that appropriate, and facilitating the use of such procedure. This means that a judge may suggest that you should try mediation if he or she thinks it might help in your case. The judge can't force you to use mediation if you don't want to. If you agree, the date of your court hearing may be postponed so that mediation can take place.

When deciding on costs, courts must take into account 'the efforts made, if any, before and during the proceedings in order to try to resolve the dispute'. The use of ADR, is promoted by the enactment of section 89 of the Code of Civil Procedure which is inserted by Section 7 of the Code of Civil Procedure (Amendment) Act 1999. The courts also encourage the parties to use an ADR procedure in appropriate cases. The Governments including Central Government are committed to settle their legal disputes out of the court by ADR methods whenever the other party agrees for it. ADR is simple, cheaper, quicker and less stressful to all parties, in comparison to adversarial litigation. The justice dispensation system in India has come under great stress for several reasons, mainly due to huge pendency of cases in the courts. Alternative Disputes Resolution is a mode of resolution of disputes through arbitration, conciliation or mediation which provides an alternative route for resolution of disputes instead of resolution of such disputes through courts. The principle of ADR are successfully adopted in the Indian Legal System as an alternative to the justice delivery system Keywords: arbitration, speedy disposal of cases, mediation, conciliation.