Alternative Dispute Resolution will be the preferred mode of settlement of disputes in future – says Dr. Veerappa Moily
Law and Justice Minister, Dr. Veerappa Moily has said that Alternative Dispute Resolution, ADR, will be the preferred mode of settlement of disputes in the future. India is spearheading the ADR movement and has caught up the attention of Courts in the country. He said, India is in the process of amending the Act of 1966 and a very comprehensive consultations have taken place at different parts of the country involving all the stakeholders. The endeavour is to make India the most preferred destination for ADR.
Inaugurating the International Conference on Alternative Dispute Resolution, ADR – Conciliation and Mediation organised by International Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution in New Delhi, he said there are 52592 cases pending in the Supreme Court, 3955224 cases in High Courts and 26752193 cases in subordinate courts. To reduce pendency of cases in courts ADR would work as a key tool. He said, towards this endeavour, the legal services authorities’ act 1987 has been amended from time to time to facilitate use of ADR methods. Amendent to Section 89 of the Code of Civil Procedure in 2002 is to introduce conciliation, mediation and pre-trial settlement methodologies for effective resolution of dispute. The Minister said, ADR centres are already functioning at Delhi, Madras, Karnataka, Punjab and Haryana High Courts.
The ICADR has been trying to spread awareness regarding settlement of disputes, commercial or otherwise, through Arbitration, Conciliation and Mediation outside the Courts. It has from time to time organized several Seminars, Conferences, Workshops, Training programmes and Educational Prgrammes to popularize and propagate ADR all over India .
The conference was attended by H.E. Dr. H.R. Bhardwaj, Governor of Karnataka and Chairman, ICADR, T.K. Viswanathan, Secretary General, Lok Sabha and member, Governing Council, ICADR. Supreme Court judges Hon’ble Mr. Justice Cyriac Joseph, Mr. Justice Deepak Verma, Mr. Justice Dalveer Bhadari, Mr. Justice Swatanter Kumar also attended the conference.
The U.S. was represented by Mr. Richard W. Naimark, Senior Vice President , American Arbitration Association
