State Funding, Digital Case Management, E-Mediation: Amicus Suggests Measures To Kerala High Court To Revamp Mediation Centres

The amicus curiae appointed by the Kerala High Court in its suo motu case to address the infrastructural and other issues in the mediation/ADR centres in the State, has filed a detailed preliminary report.The Court had earlier observed that the main infrastructural issues faced by the mediation centres are lack of proper place/venue for conducting mediation, inability to ensure privacy, inadequate physical and digital infrastructure, lack of staff, etc.It had then appointed Advocate Adarsh Kumar as the amicus in the case. The amicus has stated that in his visits to random mediation centres, he found that many of them, especially sub-mediation centres have little to no physical infrastructure. He suggests: “The tool of 'continuing mandamus' could be employed to remedy the lack of basic/minimal Physical and Digital Infrastructure issues at the various Mediation centres in the State of Kerala.”He has also reported lack of adequate number of mediation rooms, and basic facilities like fans, separate washrooms, drinking water, internet, computers, gadgets, etc. He further mentions a factor pointed by mediator-trainer, Advocate P.G. Suresh, regarding the lack of child-friendly spaces, which creates stressful environments, often coming in the way of peaceful resolution of issues.One of the major suggestions is to lower the experience requirement of Additional Mediators from 15 years to 3 or 5 years, so as to enable younger members of the Bar to give their services as mediators while also addressing the demands at multiple mediation centres across the State.The report also outlines the need to train the existing mediators regarding gadget use and online services. There is a suggestion that an online app and digital case management system be developed with an online dashboard that displays cause list, calendars, assignment of rooms, sample templates, automatic transfer of referral orders from courts, digital generation of reports, etc. that can be used by mediation centres across the State.“On days when Mediation in Sensitive Cases happens, public access to the Mediation Centre needs to be restricted. A 'free for all' access to the Mediation Centre on days when sensitive cases come up for Mediation, should be avoided,” suggests the report, addressing the issue of privacy.Another important recommendation is to explore State funding of mediation and periodical revision of the compensation provided to mediators. The report further suggest the need to have a separate cadre of staff solely for mediation centres.There is also a suggestion that insistence on physical appearance of parties by courts referring them to mediation should be done away with. The report recommends creation of 'off-centre' court-monitored subordinate mediation centres that exist beyond the physical confines of a courtroom.Suggestions are also made to improve the Mediation Centre of the High Court, including more space for office staff, designated feeding rooms, creation of child-friendly spaces, SMS-based system to inform about postings, and inclusion of the services of a professional Family Court counsellor.Additionally, the report explores creation of virtual meeting rooms, similar to those used in Delhi, Australia, etc. that ensures privacy and ease.The report suggests formulation of a 6-member Mediation Infrastructure Committee to address the physical infrastructural issues by framing a plan of action and coordinating with the district-level committees. The committee would include the High Court's Registrar General, Registrar (Admin), nominee of the Ministry of Law and Justice, the Superintendent Engineer of the Public Works Department, Director of the Kerala State Mediation and Conciliation (KSMCC), and Secretary attached to the Department of Expenditure. A suggestion is made to have district-wise committee including the district judge, district collector, nominee of the SMCC, and Executive Engineer (PWD).Addressing the issue of internet connectivity, the amicus suggests constituting a E-Mediation Committee, which will act as task force to procure digital infrastructure and install internet connectivity.The members of the E-Mediation Committee is also suggested to have 6 members, including judges in the computerization committee of the High Court, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Informatics or his nominee, Mission Director of e-Governance, Secretary attached to the Department of Expenditure, Director General of National Informatics Centre, Director of Kerala State IT Mission and Coordinator, Kerala Spatial Data Infrastructure Ltd. (KSDI).Case No: WP(C) No. 42844/2025Case Title: Suo Motu v. State of Kerala and Ors.

State Funding, Digital Case Management, E-Mediation: Amicus Suggests Measures To Kerala High Court To Revamp Mediation Centres

K. Salma Jennath

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