Title : DRAFT MEDIATION BILL 2021

Date : Dec 09, 2021

Description :

Based on a News Article published in the ‘The Hindu’ on 08^th December 2021 on Page Number 7

 

Useful for UPSC CSE Prelims and Mains (GS Paper III)

 

 

Context:

 

• The Ministry of Statute and Justice recently unveiled the Draft Mediation Bill 2021, which is the country's first mediation law.

 

Points to remember:

 

• The Bill considers the international practise of referring to conciliation and mediation as interchangeable words.
• Furthermore, because India is a party to the Singapore Convention on Mediation, it has become necessary to create a legislation in mediation on internal and international concerns.
• The bill aims to promote, support, and enable mediation, particularly institutional mediation, in the country.

 

 

Features of this bill:

 

• The draught Bill proposes pre-litigation mediation while also protecting litigants' rights to contact competent adjudicatory forums/courts in the event of an urgent relief request.
• The successful outcome of mediation has been made enforceable by law in the form of a Mediation Settlement Agreement (MSA). Because the Mediation Settlement Agreement is based on a mutual agreement between the parties, it can only be challenged on restricted grounds.
• The mediation procedure safeguards the confidentiality of the mediation and, in some situations, gives immunity from disclosure.
• The registration of the Mediation Settlement Agreement with the State/District/Taluk Legal Authorities within 90 days is also required to ensure the preservation of verified records of the settlement reached.
• The Indian Mediation Council will be established as a result of this bill.
• It includes a provision for communal mediation.

 

 

Mechanisms for Various Alternative Dispute Resolution:

 

• Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) approaches include arbitration, mediation, and conciliation.

 

• Arbitration:

 

• Arbitration is similar to a court proceeding in that the parties present evidence, similar to a trial, and a third party hears the entire scenario and renders a decision that is binding on both parties.
• Arbitration can be done in a voluntary or mandatory manner.
• When a dispute emerges between two parties and they are unable to resolve their differences on their own, the parties agree to submit their issue to a fair authority, whose decision will be binding on both parties.

 

 

 

• Compulsory arbitration:

 

• This is a procedure in which the parties are forced to accept arbitration regardless of their consent.
• When one party in an industrial dispute feels aggrieved by the other party's actions, the aggrieved party may request that the case be sent to any adjudication agency for resolution.

 

• Mediation:

 

• Mediation is a sort of alternative dispute resolution that is a non-binding and informal technique for resolving conflicts.
• Mediation is a process in which the parties have complete authority.
• The mediator serves as a liaison between the parties, assisting them in reaching an agreement on a point of contention.

 

 

• Conciliation:

 

• A conciliator is a neutral third person who assists the parties in resolving their disagreement.
• In most cases, a single conciliator is assigned to the settlement, but if the parties want it, more than one conciliator may be assigned.
• If there are more than one conciliator, they will work together to resolve the conflict.

 

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