Authored by - Ms. Riya Luhadia
Designation - Campus Ambassador of MediateGuru
Alternative Dispute Resolution also known as ADR. Basically our modern legal system have become as complex as we see that the poor and neglected segment of society they have been suffering from negligence because of poverty, because of ignorance whatever may be the reason but they suffered a lot. It is not compulsory that all the cases should be solved or resolved in the court only so, to resolve this issue or problem faced by poor and neglected segment of the society we have come up with the idea of ADR that is Alternative Dispute Resolution which means that without approaching or going to court we can resolve the problem outside the court by any possible means. Mainly the poor people and neglected segment of the society face many problems regarding their rights, etc, basic rights are guaranteed by the constitution to all as written in our preamble itself but in spite of that they have been deprived of these rights due to many reasons. So, to help them there is the means of ADR.
No doubts, that the courts are solving the disputes but ADR has also resolve many disputes like ADR is also an alternative mechanism to resolve disputes out of the courts. Basically out current legal system is the product of westernization, industrialization and urbanization so because of these our activities has also increased with that litigations has also increased in the equal proportions, so what happens is that a dispute goes to the court it takes a lot of time to resolve and stuck there for god knows how many years and with that the parties to the dispute also harassed and which ultimately put burden on the court. So, to avoid all these things the method of ADR is used. It is not only used in India but in other countries also like U.S.A, etc.
A maxim “Justice delayed is justice denied” is also based on the concept of ADR which means if justice is delayed then if we got justice or not that will not matter basically that justice is not the justice.
ADR is mechanisms which consist of different forms such as mediation, negotiation, conciliation, arbitration etc. Main purpose of ADR was to reduce the burden of the courts and saves time and money of the parties to the disputes as well. ADR brings parties to the negotiable table, identifying problems, establishing facts, clarifying the issues, developing the option of settlement and ultimately solving the disputes through award which is binding on the parties. If the parties cannot settle the dispute themselves and decide to decide to bring in a third party they have some control over the process but not necessarily over the solution.
Lacs of pending cases are there because courts need to follow a rigid and strict procedure to deal with the case so as to attain justice in a proper manner so that they can record all the evidences and proof and analyze them so that they can come to some conclusion and due to this the entire burden of judicial system is on the courts which is the reason of many pending cases in the courts, and they are time consuming and too costly also. So there is a need of Alternative dispute resolution to avoid the above problems and resolve the dispute as soon and quickly as possible.
TYPES OF ADR FOR CIVIL CASES
1. Arbitration: It is a procedure in which by the agreement of the parties, a dispute is submitted, to one or more arbitrators who make a binding decision on the dispute.
2. Conciliation: It is an ADR process where an independent third party, the conciliator, helps people in the disputes to identify their disputed issues, develop options, consider alternatives and try to reach an agreement.
3. Mediation: It is the facilitation of the negotiated agreement by a neutral third party who has no decision making power.
4. Judicial Settlement: Where all the parties to the suit decide to exercise their opinion and to agree for judicial settlement, the court has to refer the matter to a suitable institution or a person which shall be deemed to be a Lok Adalat.
5. Lok Adalat: It is one of the alternate dispute redressal mechanisms; it is a forum where disputes/cases pending in the law or at pre-litigation stage are settled or compromise.
ADVANTAGES
· Simple and flexible procedure as compared to the courts and parties are free to express them without any fear of court of law.
· Speedy resolution as compared to going courts.
· Confidential procedure which helps parties to feel comfortable and express their views without any hesitation.
· Scope of creativity is wider as compared to the courts.
· Less expensive as compared to court proceedings.
· Less time consuming.
· Aims of achieving a settlement or resolution.
· Improves understanding of parties.
CONCLUSION
ADR plays an important and significant role in India as it provides scientifically developed techniques to Indian judiciary which basically helps in reducing the burden on the courts. Negotiation is also a method of dispute settlement which means self counseling between the parties to resolve their disputes, but negotiation does not have any statutory recognition in India. It offers to resolve all types of matters including civil, commercial, industrial and family where people are not being able to identify the gap of understanding and to resolve the issue