Supreme Court Justice Sandeep Mehta on Saturday lamented that the government's representatives often pose the biggest obstacle to settling disputes through mediation.
Justice Mehta was speaking at the Supreme Court Bar Association's (SCBA) first national conference on the theme “Reimagining judicial governance: strengthening institutions for democratic justice."In his address, Justice Mehta noted that the chances of a successful mediation would increase manifold if lawyers give litigants an honest picture of a dispute and the ways it which may be settled. However, government litigants themselves seldom respond positively during mediation, he noted.
"If a true picture is provided to litigants by lawyers at the first stage, the chances of mediation succeeding would increase manifold. But the most stumbling roadblock is the government. The experience in the national Lok Adalats, where we hold pre-litigation mediation sessions, is sad to say the least. There is hardly a single department of this government which comes forward with a positive response," Justice Mehta said.
The judge added that a large number of disputes could be resolved by mediation if government officers took a more practical approach.But many a time, they are apprehensive about facing flak later for compromising cases.
"The officers, they shirk or they are rather afraid to give any kind of commitment lest they face the flak for compromising at a later stage. If this mindset were to change, I am sure that a large number of cases, cases of involving petty disputes, say pension matters, medical reimbursement, if a more pragmatic approach was to be taken by the government, a large number of cases would be resolved by mediation," he observed.
If a true picture is provided to litigants by lawyers at the first stage, the chances of mediation succeeding would increase manifold. But the most stumbling roadblock is the government.Another speaker at the event, Supreme Court Justice Vikram Nath, spoke about how mediation can offer a crucial counterbalance as the judicial system moves towards an artificial intelligence (AI) driven transformation.
The Supreme Court judge opined that mediation may be the answer to the concerns of maintaining a human element in the face of increasingly technology driven adjudication."The justice system stands on the threshold of another transformation with artificial intelligence beginning to influence research, drafting and even elements of decision-making.
While these developments hold considerable promise in terms of efficiency, they also raise an important question about what must remain distinctly human within the administration of justice. Mediation answers that question with clarity. It is a process grounded in listening, perception and the understanding of human behavior," Justice Nath said.He opined that mediation will even assume more significance in the near future as it provides a space in the justice delivery system where emotion and human experience are central to dispute resolution.
Follow us
