The establishment of an ADR mechanism in India is nothing short of a boon. India amended its domestic laws in accordance with the UNICITRAL model legislation and rules to make them consistent with the provisions set forth. Promotion is therefore the most crucial job of the state, and the ADR mechanism aids in this. As a result, a lot of legislation, including the Legal Services Authority Act of 1987, Section 89 of the CPC, and the Arbitration and Conciliation Act of 1996, has been passed to advance justice.
Consequently, it is clear that the success rate in the USA is significantly greater than that in India when we compare the number of cases settled through ADR mechanisms in India & USA, respectively. The fact that India is expanding its reach to the most remote areas, however, stands out. The statistics support this, providing a glimmer of hope for the millions of parties whose cases are being overloaded by the courts.[i]
In order to increase access to legal aid in the nation, the Government of India and the Legal Service Authority of India frequently come up with innovative initiatives like Para Legal Volunteer, Lok Adalat, etc. The authorities must have understood that it would be impossible to directly execute a legislation taken from another nation in a country like India. Given that India’s literacy rate is still below that of the United States, it was imperative to evaluate its adaptation with alterations that suited the country’s circumstances. So, it was necessary to simplify the law in order to ensure that the facilities used by the general public.[ii]
One might draw the conclusion that there are some similarities in the development trends in this area after comparing how various components of alternative dispute resolution operate in the United States and India. The growth of interest in alternative legal dispute resolution methods is related to society’s dissatisfaction with intricate and expensive justice systems that have inherent flaws in both India and the United States.[iii]
The experience of both nations, each with a unique legal system, demonstrates that the introduction of alternative processes has become a crucial component of procedural reform during a time of crisis for the court and with its inability to handle an increasing amount of civil cases. Alternative legal processes, however, cannot and do not take the role of the judicial system. They can be utilised in parallel without impeding the litigation’s progress or competing with it. Understanding that a developed ADR system, in the long term, satisfies the priorities of any rule of law state should be the basic approach to any issues related to the formulation of ADR concepts.[iv]
As a result, the most recent Annual Report 2019 likewise points in the expected direction. Although there is still a significant gap between the number of cases that are outstanding and those that are settled in the courts, it is hoped that the modern ADR system will at least be successful in bridging this gap and ensuring that justice is delivered promptly and amicably.
[i] Kajal Shah, Comparitive Study of ADR- The Indian Perspective, Legal Services India, July 09, 2020.
[ii] Id
[iii] Arun Kumar, Comparitive Analysis of ADR Mechanism in India vs USA, MONDAQ, June 06, 2021.
[iv] Ibid
Submitted By – Amulya Anand from National University of Study & Research in Law, Ranchi,
Semester- Xth