Mumbai: The Mediation Act 2023 will play a crucial role in meeting the urgent need for alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods that are quicker, less costly and more flexible than the traditional adversarial system in India’s already burdened judiciary system, according Roopa Shetty, Founder, Lex Situs.

Ïndia with its dense population sees innumerable disputes that remain backlogged in the judiciary system  where the District judiciary alone had 44.79 million pending cases in January 2024, while the High Courts had a backlog of 6.2 million cases in that period and the Supreme Court had 69,766 cases pending by July, 2023.

The Mediation Act 2023 – which brought in strategic amendments to the Mediation Bill 2021 — highlights a significant evolution in India’s approach to dispute resolution, which further leverages technology to enhance access to justice.

This Act, while revolutionizing India’s dispute resolution landscape, heralds a new dawn of dispute resolution through efficiency, accessibility and fairness, while also overcoming daunting challenges that have long obstructed India’s judicial system.

The Act’s focus on quality assurance through mediator  accreditation and oversight cements the integrity  of the mediation process, while also empowering disputants to shape their outcomes collaboratively and its online mediation overcoming logistical barriers by improving access to justice – especially in remote regions.

Lex Situs is a corporate law and advisory firm based in Bangalore, which is described as the “Silicon Valley of India.”