Adv. GHILA C G, Advocate in Thrissur Bar
ABSTRACT
The adversarial process is currently clutched with many pitfalls like increasing pendency, lack of sufficient resource, minuscule multiplication of number of courts and large vacancies in these institutions. Also increasing multiplication of laws and creation of new rights has lead, to rising number of new cases escalating the burden of the existing court by leaps and bounds. All these factors have made the judicial system costly as well as inaccessible to majority of citizens. Constitution of India guarantees delivery of justice within a reasonable time as a fundamental right and the very basis of fair trial. But this right has come under severe strain on account of this huge backlog and delay. But by the effective utilisation of ADR mechanism can reduce the burden of courts and ensuring speedy delivery of justice to the parties. Mediation is the best method of ADR mechanism for the dispute resolution.
In Alternative Dispute Resolution mediation is the most effective mechanism because it is conceptually defined as an assisted decision-making process, which should typically takes the form of a facilitated negotiation or dialogue. The mediator assists parties to make decisions about the issues in dispute between them and about appropriate norms for the regulation of future relationships. The mediated has no authority to make any decisions that are binding on them, but uses certain procedures, techniques and skills to help them to negotiate an agreed resolution of their dispute without adjudication.
Mediation has significant potential, fundamentally for bringing about qualitative change in the focus of the legal system from adjudication to amicable settlement of disputes. Thus, mediation is the best tool for access to justice for all.
