District Judge calls for adoption of alternative dispute resolution
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District Judge N. Vidya Prasad has exhorted litigants to adopt alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods for speedy resolution of disputes. Delivering the keynote address at a function organised on GITAM campus in Rushikonda on Sunday to inaugurate the post-graduate certificate course in alternative dispute resolution, he traced the method to ancient times. At present nearly three crores of cases were pending in various courts in the country and even if new cases being filed were not taken into account, it would take 324 years to clear the existing load of cases, he stated. Explaining the salient features of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, Mr. Vidya Prasad described how it helped in speedy resolution of disputes. He referred to insertion of Section 89 of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908, which provides for settlement of disputes even in pending suits through one of the modes of arbitration, conciliation, judicial settlement including settlement through Lok Adalat and mediation. The various courts would maintain panels of mediators and the parties would have the freedom to choose any of these persons as mediators to settle their disputes. The District Judge said that since Visakhapatnam was going to be a hub of commercial activities, there was bound to be tremendous scope for international commercial arbitration. The basic objective of the course was to train the arbitrators with necessary skills in arbitration, conciliation and negotiation, he pointed out. More : hindu.com |