Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) is assuming significance worldwide and the adversarial system of justice delivery is embracing it and substantially incorporating its features. Mediation as an ADR is not a rehearsal trial in front of a judge but a dialogue process to capture parties’ insights and ideas in a dispute that help them to identify and shape their preferred outcomes. ADR procedures need to retain their distinctive features in order to gain and maintain faith and confidence of stakeholders. The growing evidence of failing faith in adversarial systems as an adequate basis for fair adjudication has brought the task of searching for alternatives to litigation to the forefront. “Litigation Explosion‟ is said to be both cause and effect of a court system incapable of providing timely, affordable and effective outcomes.

The court system that intends to provide a just, principled, practical and economically rational solution is largely perceived to do just the opposite. In advanced adversarial systems of the west lawyers as the primary players of litigation are also accused of promoting needless complexity, fomenting strife, manipulating legal technicalities, selfishly taking advantage of opponents and clients, advancing the interests of the rich and powerful against the poor and weak and undermining the health of the economy.

The recently enacted Mediation Act, 2023 which has been published in the Gazette of India in September 2023 is a unique step towards achieving the goal of dispute settlement through mediation and conciliation techniques in a refined way.The Act amends more than half a dozen legislations especially section 89 Civil Procedure Code to pave the way for dispute settlement through various approaches including the novel method of pre -litigation mediation.The avowed objective of the Act is to promote and facilitate mediation,especially institutional mediation for resolution of disputes-commercial or otherwise and extends to the whole of India.The Act provides a holistic mechanism for enforcement of mediated settlement agreements,envisages a new body known as Mediation Council of India,encourages community mediation,gives legal sanctity to on-line mediation as an acceptable and cost effective mechanism for dispute resolution.

The Act defines mediation in an inclusive way as a process, whether referred to by the expression mediation, pre-litigation mediation, on-line mediation,community mediation,conciliation or an expression of similar import,whereby the parties attempt to reach an amicable settlement of their dispute with the assistance of a third person referred to as mediator who does not have the authority to impose a settlement upon the parties to the dispute.........

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