“The Mediation Advantage – The Finality of Consensual Settlement” Justice Hima Kohli At The 1st IAMC India Mediation Day

On April 16, 2023, The International Arbitration & Mediation Centre (IAMC), Hyderabad hosted the 1st Indian Mediation Day, which was graced by the presence Justice NV Ramana, Former Chief Justice, Supreme Court of India, Justice Hima Kohli, Judge, Supreme Court of India, Justice L. Nageswara Rao, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India, Justice RV Raveendran, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India, Mr. George Lim, Senior Counsel, Chairperson of SIMC, Mr. Wee Meng Chuan, CEO, SIMC, Mr. Gregory Vijayendran, Senior Counsel, Partner, Rajah & Tann, Mr. AJ Jawad, Advocate & Mediator, Mr. JP Sengh, Senior Advocate & Mediator, Ms. Ekta Bahl and Ms. Poornima Hatti, Partners, Samvad Partners. The session was attended by High Court Judges, arbitrators, senior advocates, industry leaders, senior mediators and members from various government departments who witnessed three panel discussions namely Relevance of Mediation in Cross Border Disputes, India as an Emerging Hub of Institutional Mediation and IAMC, Hyderabad’s Mediation Roadmap, 2025. In the opening remarks, Justice L. Nageswara Rao, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India, highlighted the Justice B.N. Srikrishna Committee Report which had recommended the growth of Institutional Arbitration in India which founded the base of IAMC in Hyderabad. He remarked, “There is an imperative need to offload the burden the courts in India and the need for a swift alternate dispute resolution which was the basis of establishing IAMC in Hyderabad.” Further, “The future looks promising for those who are interested in doing mediation. It can’t be restricted to a few people or within the people in the legal profession. Domain expertise is very important in Arbitration and Mediation.” Justice Hima Kohli, Judge, Supreme Court of India said that the use of ADR in ancient and medieval India has been very comprehensive and in contemporary India ADR is famously known as “Appropriate Dispute Resolution” mechanism. “The benefits of Mediation are plenty. They include its non-adversarial and voluntary nature, flexibility and confidentiality of the process, its speed and cost-effectiveness, and the finality of consensual settlements. As a mode of ADR, Mediation helps to reduce the caseload burden on courts. It contributes towards the financial and commercial growth of the country.” Justice Kohli laid down the statistics as per the National Legal Services Authority for the year 2021-2022 which demarcated India to have 464 ADR centres of which 397 were functional and with 16,565 mediators working in 570 Mediation Centres. In this duration, nearly 53,000 cases were settled through Mediation. Justice Kohli further commented on the laws of mediation in other countries stating that “Australia, Singapore, and Italy have standalone laws on Mediation. But there is a legislative vacuum in India, which is going to be filled up soon in India with the Ministry of Law having drafted the Mediation Bill, 2021 that seeks to promote Mediation particularly institutional Mediation and provides a mechanism for enforcing mediated Settlement Agreements. Presently, the Bill stands referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, for discussion.” The Bill has the benefits of a fixed timeline for resolving disputes, proposal to establish Indian Mediation Council and Recognised Mediation Serviced Providers, proposal to make mediation agreements binding once it is signed, limited scope of challenge to the mediation agreements, confidentiality clause on information exchange, impartiality and independence of the accredited and trained mediators to conduct the mediation process effectively and mandatory pre-litigation mediation in commercial disputes. . “ODR has emerged as the preferred mode of dispute resolution,” especially during the Covid-19 pandemic when physical interactions were restricted. The transition required careful consideration to identify a reliable and secure platform for conducting mediation. “Currently, there are no specific regulations governing ODR in India, but ODR providers and users can still rely on the existing legal framework, best practices and data protection regulations to ensure that their online Mediation activities comply with the relevant laws and regulations.” It is hopeful that with increased ODR in India, Rules and Guidelines are bound to come up along with robust infrastructure, technical support and viable and clear protocols for conducting mediation using technology and for signing and sealing of Settlement Agreements. “The transition to online Mediation presented several challenges that required careful consideration and attention. One of the most significant challenges was to identify a reliable and secure platform to support the Mediation process.” She further suggested, “In all these processes, be it physical, on-line or hybrid, it is essential ...

“The Mediation Advantage – The Finality of Consensual Settlement” Justice Hima Kohli At The 1st IAMC India Mediation Day

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