Strengthening Mediation in India: An Interim Report on Court Annexed Mediations
An interim report to formulate reform strategy for court annexed mediation in India
Summary: Vidhi worked with the Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice to study and evaluate the progress of court-connected mediation programmes in India.
Regulation of mediation practices and frameworks is a global debate, with different facets of such regulation being the subject of numerous academic and policy reform discourses. In India, mediation was formalised as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism, and brought on the statute book with an amendment to Section 89 of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908. With more than a decade’s passage, a review of court annexed mediation in India is imperative to reinvigorate the framework with necessary reforms.
The present Interim Report has reviewed different ‘Study Jurisdictions’, namely Australia, Singapore, United States of America and the United Kingdom, to ascertain best practices and takeaways which may facilitate the establishment of an efficient framework for court connected mediation in India. The Interim Report also presents an empirical analysis of the Delhi High Court Mediation and Conciliation Centre, and the Bangalore Mediation Centre, reviewing data made available by these mediation centres for the period between 2011 and 2015.
This Interim Report endeavours to be the seminal step to a greater programme to formulate and effectuate a comprehensive reform strategy and framework for strengthening court annexed mediation in India.
Note: The Interim Report was incorrectly quoted by the Times of India in a news article on 29 July 2016. We have pointed out the inaccuracies and out-of-context statements to the editor, Times of India in this letter.