Report
Strengthening Mediation in India: A Report on Court-Connected Mediations
Report content
Regulation of mediation practices and frameworks is a global debate, with different facets of such regulation being the subject of numerous academic and policy reform discourses. In India, mediation was formalised as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism, and brought on the statute book with an amendment to Section 89 of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908. With more than a decade’s passage, a review of court annexed mediation in India is imperative to reinvigorate the framework with necessary reforms. In an interim report , we had studied four jurisdictions, namely Australia, Singapore, United States of America and the United Kingdom, to ascertain best practices and takeaways which may facilitate the establishment of an efficient framework for court connected mediation in India. The final report compiles and presents the data provided to us by the mediation centres at the Delhi, Karnataka and Allahabad High Courts. It also presents the main discussions covered during round table and individual interviews conducted with mediators and administrators at the Delhi Mediation Centre and the Bangalore Mediation Centre. Based on the data gathered, the report analyses the performance of court connected mediation programmes and makes institutional and legislative recommendations to strengthen mediation in India. This report was prepared in collaboration with the Department of Justice of the Ministry of Law & Justice, Government of India, and has been submitted to the Department. The final report and the data collected from the mediation centres can be downloaded from the links provided below.
Report document
Authors
Alok Prasanna
CO-FOUNDER AND LEAD, KARNATAKA
Alok Prasanna Kumar is Co-Founder and Lead, Vidhi Karnataka. His areas of research include judicial reforms, Constitutional law, urban development, and law and technology. He graduated with a B.A. LL.B. (Hons) from the NALSAR University in 2008 and obtained the BCL from the University of Oxford in 2009. He writes a monthly column for the Economic and Political Weekly and has published in the Indian Journal of Constitutional Law and National Law School of India Review apart from media outlets such as The Hindu, Indian Express, Scroll, Quint and Caravan. He has practiced in the Supreme Court and Delhi High Court from the chambers of Mr Mohan Parasaran, and currently also co-hosts the Ganatantra podcast on IVM Podcasts.
Ameen Jauhar
Former Senior Resident Fellow and Lead, ALTR
Ameen was a Senior Resident Fellow at Vidhi, and led the Centre for Applied Law and Technology Research (ALTR). His interest and research focus lies in AI ethics, and the governance of AI. Within ALTR, he has been leading the team's collaborative research on data trusts, and artificial intelligence. Ameen has also worked on the intersection of technology and the justice system, as a senior fellow working on the JALDI mission's engagement with the Supreme Court of India's AI and E-Courts' committees. Ameen has a formal educational background in social research methods and evidence-based policy. He completed his master’s programme from the Institute of Education (University College London), focusing on the use of research evidence in policy processes, and was awarded an MSc. with an overall distinction. Before this, he completed his undergraduate legal studies from the W.B. National University of Juridical Sciences [B.A. LL.B. (Hons.)] in 2012. Prior to Vidhi, Ameen worked at J. Sagar Associates, in the firm’s regulatory and policy team. He has practised in the Supreme Court of India, the Delhi High Court, and numerous tribunals.
Kritika Vohra
Ishana Tripathi
Ms. Ishana Tripathi is an advocate practising in Bengaluru and is a non-resident expert with Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy.