‘Justice delayed is justice denied’ is the verdict of our apex court which is a milestone of our justice delivery system. But unfortunately a huge number of cases are pending in different courts of our country. There is an urgent need to devise and evolve a new system to provide speedy justice to each person to attain our Constitutional goal. This system is known as the Alternative Dispute Resolution as it provides for settlement of disputes outside the court.

Subjects covered 

Arbitration and Conciliation is one of the vital limbs of Alternative Dispute Resolution. The Arbitration and Conciliation Act has been  amended in 2015 & 2019 and those have received proper treatment in this edition. Besides Arbitration, Negotiation, Minitrial, Lok Adalat, Lokpal, etc. are dealt with in an erudite manner. A separate chapter on ‘Plea Bargaining’ is included and it discusses its importance, limitation and future. An in-depth study of the Gram Nyayalayas Act has been made in the light of the judgments of the apex court and different High Courts.

Latest amendment

The Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 has recently got amended through the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act 2019 which completely overhauled the provisions relating to ‘Appointment of Arbitrator’. The Arbitration Council of India is being introduced having a lead role in the matter. Qualification & experience of an arbitrator and general norms applicable to Arbitrator are also included by this amendment. All such developments are aptly treated in this edition.

New inclusions 

Law is not static. It develops as and when the society demands. To meet the requirements of the legal fraternity, a separate chapter on ‘Online Alternative Dispute Resolution’ has been incorporated. Dar-ul-Qaza (Sharia Courts) as an Alternative Dispute Redressal Forum is newly included, which opens a new window to this subject. Another inclusion in this edition is ‘Early Neutral Evaluation’, which makes the work comprehensive and indispensable to the Bench and the Bar.

Topics discussed

All the important topics relating to ADR like the appointment of arbitrator, power and duties of an arbitrator, cyber arbitration, fast track arbitration, family court, fast track court, fast track procedure, injunction, maintenance and welfare of parents and senior citizens, mediator and Nyaya Panchayat are discussed at length. The book will be a faithful companion to lawyers, students and other stakeholders as well.