CONCILIATORS TO BE ATTACHED TO ALL COURTS
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ALTERNATE
DISPUTE RESOLUTIION
The Chief Justice
of India, Mr. Justice V.N. Khare, has said that an Alternate Dispute
Resolution (ADR) mechanism is essential, as the number of pending
cases in various courts in the country is very high. He was inaugurating
a two-day International Conference on ADR Conciliation, Mediation
and Case Management here today. Recalling that in ancient India
disputes were resolved by the institution of Panch Parameshwar,
Justice Khare said that conciliation/mediation was all the
more relevant now. He said that the mechanism would result in
speedy disposal of cases, reduce the burden on the judiciary and
eliminate the high cost of litigation.
In his presidential
address, the Minister for Law and Justice, Shri Arun Jaitley said
that Conciliators would be attached to every Court in the country.
The Conciliators would also be given adequate training. The Law
Ministry has approached the 12th Finance Commission
for allocation of funds for establishing a permanent system of
conciliation/mediation. Highlighting the pressure on the Courts,
Shri Jaitley said that about 13,000 judges disposed of about 15
million cases annually. He also said that the Lok Adalats had
proved to be a great success.
Shri Jaitley called
upon the support of the Bar for the programme so that there was
no opposition to this important judicial reform. The large number
of pending cases in the Courts caused congestion of the Courts
and judicial reforms were meant to remove the congestion, he added.
He said that in US, 94 per cent of the cases were disposed of
through ADR.
The Chairman of the
Bar Council of India, Shri D.V. Subba Rao, who made the special
address at the Inaugural function said that the Bar was not opposed
to the system of conciliation/mediation. However, it should be
voluntary, he added.
The two-day Conference,
being organised by the Law Commission of India, is being attended
by the Chief Justices of all High Courts. The US delegation attending
the Conference is led by Judge Clifford Wallace, former Judge
of the US Court of Appeals. Judge Wallace read out the message
of the US Supreme Court. Justice M.Jagannadha Rao, Chairman, Law
Commission and Shri Pravin H. Parekh, President, Supreme Court
Advocates on Record Association, also spoke on the occasion.
