HC sets up Mediation Centre to settle pending civil cases

Bangalore, June 19 (UNI) In its bid to bring down the burgeoning civil cases, the Karnataka High Court has set up Bangalore Mediation Centre, a new concept where mediators would solve civil cases in double quick time.

The Centre, set up in a building constructed by the state government and handed over to the High Court, would be inaugurated by Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan on June 21.

This is for the first time in the country that a mediation centre, with trained advocates performing as mediators has come up.

The Delhi High Court had set up a similar centre with District Judges serving as mediators.

Briefing newspersons, High Court Judge Justice S R Bannurmath said 57 mediators, advocates with at least 15 years standing as members of the Bar, had been trained by US-based International Institute for Study and Development of Legal System.

Under this alternative legal system, the mediators would bring the two parties in civil cases pertaining to finance, matrimony, money matters, property issues and other such cases that can be settled outside the court.

''These skilled law experts, as neutral third parties, would bring the two parties together and try to solve the case without the intervention of the court by using transparent, less time-consuming and cost effective methods,'' he said.

''The mediation centre has been set up under Section 89 of the Civil Procedure Code after a temporary centre set up by the court proved highly successful'', he added.

The present centre had been referred with 829 cases since January one this year, of which 277 cases had been settled while 210 cases are pending inquiry.

''A high 47 per cent success rate within six months of setting up this temporary centre speaks of high success such alternative dispute resolution centres can have. Each case took paltry 123 minutes for the mediators to settle,'' Justice Bannurmath said.

The Judge said if the cases, referred to mediation, could not be resolved in 60 days they would be referred back to the court.

Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Cyriac Joseph would be the patron, while it would have five governors to ensure smooth functioning. An Advisory Board had also been set up with Law Minister M P Prakash and others being its members, he added.

UNI