Alternative dispute resolution
(ADR) in India
has a history of more than 60 years with the Arbitration Act 1940 as one of the
initial laws in this regard. The 1940 act was repealed by the Arbitration and
Conciliation Act 1996.
This has, however, not produced
much change in the ADR law of India.
The backlog of civil cases keeps on increasing despite the 1996 Act. This is
due to the fact that there are many legal, procedural and fundamental
weaknesses in the 1996 Act.
The 1996 Act is in the process of
reformulation and there are numerous lacunas that must be removed in the next
ADR law of India.
The Parliament of India has, however, a serious limitation while formulating
ADR laws. It is not much aware of the information and communication technology
(ICT) related issues of ADR.
Cyber arbitration is one such
aspect. Cyber arbitration is popularly known as online dispute resolution
(ODR) in India. ODR is a better and improved form of ADR provided India
is willing to encash its benefits.
The problem is there are very few
ODR institutions in India. Even lesser are
ODR experts who can resolve technical, legal and other scientific disputes in
an online environment. Even the national
litigation policy of India (NLPI) failed to address this issue.
There is no doubt that
formulating good techno-legal ODR practices and regulations require tremendous
expertise. There are few ODR providers who can assist the Indian government in
this regard.
Source: Cyber
Laws In India
