Mediation as an Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanism in India: A Legal Review

Abstract

Mediation is emerging as a key alternative dispute resolution tool in India's legal landscape, providing a balance to the formalism of traditional litigation. In addition to high costs and slow courts, the exponential build-up of case backlogs in Indian courts has fostered the recognition of mediation as a tool for accessible, swift and consensual justice delivery, both within institutions and in legislation. The Mediation Act, 2023 marks a turning point in this process by introducing statutory provisions into the mediation process, covering pre-litigation mediation, court-annexed mediation, mediator appointment and mediator settlement enforcement. This paper will proceed to provide a doctrinal legal examination of the conceptual basis of mediation, its development in the Indian constitutional and legal framework and the substantive aspects of the 2023 legislation. It analyzes the judicial reaction to mediation, assesses the promise of mediation to improve access to justice while maintaining the autonomy of the parties, and identifies some gaps in implementation that have remained consistent: quality of mediators, lack of awareness by parties and the general public of mediation and mediated settlements, and concerns about power differentials in mediated settlements. The paper concludes that the Mediation Act, 2023 provides the legal backbone for mainstream mediation, but it requires ongoing institutions capacity building efforts, cultural shifts in the legal profession, and appropriate design of compulsory mediation regimes to ensure the voluntary nature of mediation.

Keywords: Mediation; Alternative Dispute Resolution; Mediation Act, 2023; Access to Justice; Institutional Mediation.