This Article is written by Mohini Pandey, a Law Graduate of Deen Dayal Upadhyay University Gorakhpur

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is the process of settlement between the parties outside the court. These ADR mechanisms are less adversarial and are capable of providing an amicable outcome in comparison to conventional methods of resolving disputes.

In India, one of the most popular modes of ADR is arbitration, conducted as per the provision of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996.

Alternative dispute resolution or external dispute resolution, typically denotes a wide range of dispute resolution processes and techniques that act as a means for disagreeing parties to agree.

Alternative dispute resolution is a technique to resolve disputes and disagreements between the parties by arriving at an amenable settlement through negotiation and discussion.

KEYWORDS

ADR, negotiation, arbitration, mediation, look Adalat’s, conciliation, common method

TYPES OF ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION MECHANISM

Various alternative dispute-resolution mechanisms can be classified as

1. Arbitration

2. Conciliation

3. Mediation

4. Judicial settlements inclusive of Lok Adalat’s

5. Negotiation

· ARBITRATION

Arbitration is the process of ADR in which both the parties who are having a dispute appoint an arbitrator to resolve their disputes. This means both parties with mutual consent appoint one person who is impartial and does not belong to any of the parties to solve their problems.

The arbitrator can be appointed by the parties as well as by the arbitral tribunal. Basically, in arbitration, the arbitrator helps the parties to come to common ground and solve their issues.

The objective of arbitration is to arrive at a fair resolution through an unbiased tribunal speedily and cost-effectively.

The Arbitration and Conciliation Amendment Bill 2015 was introduced in Lok Sabha on December 3 2015 by the Minister of Law and Justice Mr D. V Sadanand Gowda.

The bill amends the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996. The Lok Sabha has passed the bill.

· CONCILIATION

The conciliation is the process in which the main objective is to facilitate the settlement between the parties. In this process, the parties appoint one impartial person who is known as the conciliator and it helps them to come to common ground.

However, in conciliation, the parties are not bound by the decision of the conciliator like in the arbitration process.

· MEDIATION

Mediation is the process in which also there is one mediator who helps the parties to reach an agreement in dispute. The parties in dispute themselves set the condition of the settlement to be reached. [1]

The mediator does not impose any decision on the party and neither the parties the parties are bound by the decision mediator. [2]

They merely act as facilitator involved in improving the dialogue between the parties.

· NEGOTIATION

It is the most common method of alternative dispute resolution but a process of non-binding decision means in negotiation the parties do not involve any third party to solve their dispute.

Negotiation is a process in which parties arrive at a negotiated settlement to the dispute by their mutual consent.

Negotiation occurs in business, non-profit organizations, government branches, legal proceedings among nations, and personal matters such as marriage, divorce, parenting, and everyday life.

· LOK ADALAT

The establishment of the Lok Adalat system of dispute settlement system was brought about by the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987 for expediting the system of dispute settlement.

In Lok Adalat dispute in the prelitigation stage could be settled amicably.

· NEED FOR ADR IN INDIA

The main importance or need of ADR is that there are lots of cases pending in India and the court is already burdened by the cases which are there in court and solved so ADR helps them to solve the problems of the people outside the court so it does not burden the court.

There are following things which are provided by ADR or help in reducing just by using the ADR.

1. Lesser the pendency of cases in court

2. speedy decision [3]

3. cheaper than the court cost

· WHAT IS THE ADVANTAGE OF ADR

1. The ADR usually takes place in private and help in maintaining confidentiality

2. It is viable, economical and efficient

3. The procedure of ADR is more flexible than the court because, in many methods of the ADR, the parties are not bound by the decision if they do not agree to the decision.

4. The ADR saves the time of the parties and money and makes them stress-free from the conventional trial court.

5. The possibility of ensuring that the specialized expertise is available on the tribunal as a person of arbitrator, mediator, neutral adviser, or conciliator.

6. Further it offers great control over the outcome.

· WHAT IS THE STATUS OF ADR IN INDIA

Statutory backing: The Legal Service Authorities Act was passed in 1987 to encourage out-of-court settlement and the new Arbitration and Conciliation Act was enacted in 1996.

Lok Adalat: Lok Adalat is also known as the people’s court and in this Adalat, they provide an informal setting that facilitates negotiation in the presence of the judicial officer.

The order of the Lok Adalat is final and binding on the parties and is not appealable in a court of law.

· Other legal provision

In 2021 the Lok Sabha passed the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill 2021 to check misuse by the fly by night operators who take advantage of the law to get favourable awards by fraud.

More recently in July 2022, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice recommended substantial changes to the Mediation Bill,2021.

[4]ADR has proven successful in clearing the backlog of cases at various levels and Lok Adalat also alone has disposed of more than 50 lakh cases every year on average.

But there is a lack of awareness in the people of the country about this helpful mechanism which is provided to the people of the country.

The first objective of government should be to aware the potential litigants about this mechanism so they can reach to take help from them.

The main motive of the ADR is to provide help to the poor people who are not able to have justice and the ADR mechanism is helping the poor people in getting justice fast and furious and they are helping the court also in reducing the cases.

· CONCLUSION

In recent years the Indian legal system has undergone a notable transformation with the growing prominence of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.[5]

Many methods of ADR gained popularity because of their potential offers like cost-effective, and less adversarial solutions to disputes.

The most common methods of ADR are arbitration, negotiation, mediation, conciliation, etc and they try to provide better and quicker decisions to the litigants.

In recent years the ADR flourished a lot but it seems that the people of the country are not fully aware of the mechanism which is why they do not get involved in these methods.

So, we can say that there of lack of awareness among the people, and somehow many people who get involved do not agree with the decision because of its non-binding decision nature of ADR.

As in ADR, there is a lack of legal formalities which is why [people don’t take it seriously and parties question the decision.

Many advantages and disadvantages of the ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE resolution why it is somehow somewhere beneficial for the legal system but not satisfactory for parties and sometimes it is good for both so it is beneficial at the same time not properly known by the people of the country and even sometimes not accepted by the people of the country.

· REFERENCE

1. https://ciiblog.in/reshaping-the-future-of-adr-in-india-through-integration-of-technology-and-institutional-arbitration/

2. https://www.drishtiias.com/loksabha-rajyasabha-discussions/in-depth-reduction-in-pendency-of-cases-arbitration

3. https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/alternative-dispute-resolution/

4. https://viamediationcentre.org/readnews/MTM2/A-Birds-Eye-View-of-Current-Scenario-of-ADR-in-India

5. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2003844#:~:text=The%20enabling%20legal%20framework%20for,including%20settlement%20through%20Lok%20Adalat.

6. https://legalaffairs.gov.in/sites/default/files/Arbitration_Mediation.pdf

7. https://www.india.gov.in/topics/law-justice/alternative-dispute-redressal-adr

[1] ISHAN BANERJEE (AN INTRODUCTION TO ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION) (MARCH 2, 2020) https://blog.ipleaders.in/an-introduction-to-alternative-dispute-resolution/ACCESSED(10/10/2024) ACESSED (10/10/24)

[2] ER KHALLIQUI AZAM (TYPES OF ADR) https://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-1678-alternative-dispute-resolution-adr-.html)ACCESSED(11/10/24)

[3] ASTHA DHAWAN (A BIRD’S EYE OF CURRENT SCENARIO OF ADR IN INDIA) (https://viamediationcentre.org/readnews/MTM2/A-Birds-Eye-View-of-Current-Scenario-of-ADR-in-India) ACCESSED (12/10/24).

[5] RESHAPING THE FUTURE OF ADR IN INDIA THROUGH INTEGRATION OF TECHNOLOGY AND INSTITUTIONAL ARBITRATION(16/08/2024)ACCESSED (12/10/2024) https://ciiblog.in/reshaping-the-future-of-adr-in-india-through-integration-of-technology-and-institutional-arbitration/