Virtual Dispute Resolution First Be Used For Commercial Matters Where Extreme Emotions Aren’t Involved: Bombay High Court's Justice Nitin Jamdar

The session was attended by around 2,000 judicial officers and 200 advocate mediators from across the State of Maharashtra, the MSLSA said.

Online Dispute Resolution (‘ODR’) has increasingly gained traction as an effective means to ensure access to justice for people from remote locations and diverse socio-economic backgrounds.

Therefore, on Sunday, the eve of the United Nations World Day of Social Justice, the session aimed to demonstrate the benefits of ODR as a means of quick and effective dispute resolution, particularly in relation to court-annexed mediation.

Speaking during the event, Justice Nitin Jamdar said with the advent of the Commercial Courts Act, online dispute resolution is the need of the hour, “As you know, with the advent of Commercial Courts Act, pre-institution mediation is now mandatory. Online dispute resolution, therefore, is the need of the hour. There are some areas such as commercial disputes to start with, where ODR can be effective, where extreme emotions of the parties are not involved.”

A mindset change is imperative, Justice Jamdar added, “There is one thing we have to be mindful that the transition from physical to online dispute resolution would require mindset and procedural changes. We must, therefore, prepare ourselves for this transition. The efforts such as the present one are, therefore, crucial. The nuances of online dispute resolution systems will have to be learnt by those who are participants in it.”

Member Secretary Dinesh P. Surana, of MSLSA, Mumbai said that Bombay High Court Main Mediation Monitoring Committee has issued an SOP on online dispute resolution.

“It is our common experience in the process of pre-institution mediations for commercial disputes that many parties insist for virtual or online mode of mediation. On the backdrop of a growing trend of virtual mediation, there is a need to sensitize all the stakeholders in the State regarding the upcoming technology trends in law, its adoption, functioning and integration”

He added that CJI DY Chandrachud had recently emphasized on the integration of technologies with the court proceedings as well as alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.

Presolv360 has been empanelled as a Mediation Institution by the MMC, Bombay High Court, and the District Legal Services Authority, Mumbai, and achieved a resolution rate of 100% and 83% respectively in pre-institution mediation matters, according to MSLSA’s press release.

Apart from Justice Jamdar, and Mr. Surana, Mr. Ajit A. Yadav, Deputy Registrar, MMC, Bombay High Court; and Ms. Namita Shah, co-founder, Presolv360, who conducted the training for the mediators was present at the training.