What is Mediation ? Process of mediation | Necessity of it | Merits of Mediation

Dispute is a natural thing in Human life. A dispute may be Civil or Criminal in nature.Each and everyday several thousands of cases are registered in different courts in India.

     Courts are filled with millions of pending cases, because of such pending cases the motto of justice is getting hampered day by day. To tackle with such situation the Law commission did a survey and got that in India  numbers of Judges are available for one million people where as in United States the number of Judges are 108, which is far better than India's situation. With such short period of time in hand, the law commission has recommended to avail at least 50 Judges for one million people.

The main problems with the present adjudicating system are that it is time consuming, complex procedure and expensive and the common aggrieved masses avoid knocking the door of the court. Keeping such situation in mind and Singapore convention and the recommendation of Law Commission of India, the parliament amended the Code of Civil Procedure to facilitate a new process known as Mediation which is fast, less expensive and less complex. The Act took effect from the year 2002.

     The motto of Judiciary is to solve any dispute and try to give justice to the deprived as early as possible. The process of mediation has lots of potential but till now it has not got its popularity as it should be. In developed countries the mediation process has received a great success.

What do you understand by Mediation?

Mediation is an Alternative Dispute Resolution process where the court appoints an Impartial and neutral person(Known as Mediator) who assists the parties to reach a settlement. The mediation process is a voluntary and non-binding process. The Mediator does not provide a solution but provides an environment in which the affected parties can resolve the dispute by themselves.

What are the functions of a Mediator?

1. A mediator is an imperial and neutral person who is appointed by the court to manage interaction between the parties.

2. It provides sufficient communication opportunities between the parties.

3. A mediator tries to find out the possible barriers to an agreement and interest of the parties to the mediation process.

4. To prepare the terms on which the mediation process continues between the parties.

Who are involved in Mediation ?

The two litigant parties and Mediator are the persons involved in the mediation process. The Court does not interfere in the normal mediation process.

Mediation process>>>>>>>

Dispute between parties

Litigation in Court

Court offer for Mediation

Agrees to settle through mediation

Negotiation between the parties

Closure of litigation

Merits of mediation:

Mediation is one of the easiest process through which dispute between the parties can be resolve quickly and because of this process it is gaining popularity day by day. The merits of mediation process are follows.

1. Easy redress of the disputes

2. No extra cost required

3. It brings harmony between the parties

4. It provides easy solution and remedies.

5. Both parties get the win-win situation.

6. It is simple and informal process

7. The control of the mediation process lies in the hand of parties.

8. The communication between the parties and mediator is privileged communication.

9. After the successful mediation the plaintiff gets back full court fees.

10. Reduces burden from the shoulder of the Judiciary.