CJI Kant calls for utilising experience of retd judges in dispute resolution

Jaipur: Chief Justice of India Surya Kant Saturday called for scrapping the term “alternative dispute resolution”, saying it wrongly colours mediation, Lok Adalats, arbitration and conciliation as secondary to courts.

“I have never been compatible with this alternative dispute resolution expression. I have never used the word alternative because it carries an unintended hierarchy, as though the real pursuit of justice occurs elsewhere, and these mechanisms exist merely as substitutes,” the CJI said while speaking at a conference of retired judges in the city.

“I have insisted before, and once again: let us retire that word,” he said.

Rejecting the idea that such fora are a “back door” to justice, he said, these avenues are not a substitute for the justice system. Rather, “they are, at their finest, justice itself, delivered in a language the people understand, at a pace the people can live with and at a place the people can reach”.

He added that for millions, these avenues are “the only door” to justice.

CJI Kant also called for the creation of a structured national framework to utilise the experience of retired judges in dispute resolution processes and public legal education, saying retirement should not end judicial service and that the system cannot afford to lose their experience and institutional memory. Calling their expertise a public resource, he said, “Once a judge is always a judge”.

He added that the experience of former judges is a valuable national resource that should not go untapped after retirement.

“I am calling for a formal framework – a structured national registry of former judges willing to serve in alternative dispute resolution processes and legal awareness capacities; memoranda of understanding between the (resulting) association (of retired judges) and state legal services authorities and high courts; and, most critically, I am calling for the recognition that this engagement is service in the fullest sense of the word,” he said.

He outlined four areas of service for retired judges: as mediators and arbitrators, especially in commercial and family disputes; as legal educators in schools, colleges, gram panchayats and universities; as pre-litigation counsellors with legal services authorities; and as mentoring mediators training legal aid lawyers and preserving judicial memory.

Speaking earlier at the same event, Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma said mediation, Lok Adalats, dialogue and jan sunwai (public hearings) can help people get quicker, cheaper justice, reduce burden on courts and promote social harmony. He urged citizens to approach mediation centres or Lok Adalats before going to court..
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