Tamil Nadu - Salem   

Courts should encourage mediation, says Chief Justice

Staff Reporter

SALEM: Chief Justice of the Madras High Court A.P. Shah said courts should actively encourage mediation. Inaugurating a workshop on mediation organised by the District Legal Services Authority and the Salem Bar Association here on Saturday, the Chief Justice said: "Conciliation and mediation is the most effective Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), which has been successfully implemented in several countries, especially in the United States." The Chief Justice said courts were not in a position to deliver justice in a reasonable time. People were losing faith in the capacity of the courts to render justice because of the delays. The number of civil cases being filed in the courts was coming down. As people wanted quick relief, some were turning to illegal bodies like the katta panchayats. If this continued to happen, it would lead to a breakdown of the legal system. "It is, therefore, all the more necessary that the courts actively encourage mediation," the Chief Justice said.

Parliament by enacting Section 89 of the Code of Civil Procedure had given a mandate that conciliation and mediation should be regular processes in every case that had come to the court, the Chief Justice said.

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