SENSEX
NIFTY
GOLD
USD/INR

Weather

image 24    C

Top News

News

Top / The New Indian Express

details

Cutting delays, with a little help from mediators

India gets a new Chief Justice as it marks the 76th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution. A new judicial era has begun with the appointment of Justice Surya Kant as the 53rd Chief Justice of India. His rise from humble origins to the high office reflects the democratic character and inclusivity of our public institutions. The new CJI has a unique opportunity to develop the constitutional vision of access to justice. His nearly-15-month tenure has the potential to make a substantive impact on the future of the judiciary. The elements of consensus and continuity while bringing about change will be critical. Given this, CJI Kant should consider focusing on three critical aspects of judicial governance. The constitutional vision is partly clouded at present. The World Justice Projects Civil Justice Index uses accessibility, affordability, delay, and legal aid as metrics to evaluate justice systems. India ranked 114th out of 143 jurisdictions on the index for 2025. This indicated high costs, long delays, and limited use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms. Broadening the scope of access to justice beyond the National Legal Service Authority (Nalsa) will require the active involvement of the bar, and of the corporate and transactional world of legal practice. Access to justice ought to be everyones responsibility. This brings us to the case for establishing a National Access to Justice Fund to support legal aid and related services. It could be corporate-funded, independently-managed, and tax-incentivised within the broader ambit of Nalsa, directly supporting legal services for people who cannot afford it. This will strengthen and augment Nalsa without compromising on independence or accountability. Brazil is a good example of according constitutional priority to access to justice. It has established one federal and 27 state public defenders offices. These are autonomous constitutional bodies that promote access to justice by providing free legal aid, promoting human rights, and defending the individual and collective rights of those in need. Investing resources in developing a robust ADR framework is critical. The Mediation Act, 2023 established the legal framework for creating the Mediation Council of India to encourage institutional and pre-litigation mediation, and work towards legally-binding settlement agreements. It even permits online and cross-border mediation for certain categories of disputes. Global experiences inform that a strong mediation-based dispute resolution mechanism can effectively address delays. The Singapore International Mediation Centre has settled more than 70 percent of the cases that had come before it, the same success rate as that of civil mediation in the UK. Nearly 60 percent of the cases in US federal courts get settled through mediation. China has witnessed extraordinary progress in developing mediation organisations as the first line of defence. In 2020, the Supreme Peoples Court in China launched a one-stop platform for international commercial dispute resolution. The integration of online litigation and mediation led to a 30 percent increase in successful commercial mediation. The country has also mainstreamed mediation and online dispute resolutionover 12 million cases were resolved through pre-litigation mediation in 2023, more than 40 percent of all filings. The scale and scope of mediation in China is worth studying, especially for India, where case pendency is a major issue. Serious efforts are needed to make mediation prevalent in dispute resolution in India. The idea of dedicated mediation cells with full-time mediators attached to each district court should be considered. The assessment of their performance could be based on settlement rate and user satisfaction. District and subordinate courts should consider organising case management conferences where judges record reasons for not sending cases for mediation. There is also an urgent need to fill judicial vacancies. Around 20-25 percent of positions in district and subordinate courts and 20-30 percent in high courts are unfilled.The Allahabad High Court has a vacancy of more than 40 percent. The stress on the lower courts, which operate with smaller staffing strengths, is significant as they deal with more than 85 percent of Indias caseload. The courts are also struggling with the lack of administrative staff such as court managers, clerks, and stenographers. Thirteen high courts have reported administrative vacancies of 20-50%. While judicial service examinations are the preferred way of recruiting judges, lateral entries and appointment of part-time judges, especially for district and subordinate courts, can be considered. India is an outlier among BRICS nations, with the lowest number of judges compared to its population. India has 15 judges per million peopleBrazil has 80, China has about 160, and South Africa over 40. We are also poorly placed in representation of women in the judiciary, at 37.4 percent38 percent in the subordinate courts and 14 percent in the high courts. The representation is even lesser in the nations top courtonly 3.1 percent. In the last 75 years, only 11 women have been appointed judges of the Supreme Court. Speaking at a conference earlier this month, Justice Kant had observed, The notion of access to justice is not an abstract ideal. Rather, its a sapient right that must be continuously nurtured through institutional strength, professional competence, and compassionate engagement The journey toward accessible justice is not traversed on a linear paththe road is long and winding. As the Chief Justice of India embarks on his own journey of judicial, intellectual and moral leadership along that winding road, the constitutional vision of access to justice should be the lodestar. (Views are personal) C Raj Kumar Founding Vice Chancellor, O P Jindal Global (Deemed) University, and Dean, Jindal Global Law School.

29 Nov 2025 7:48 am