Dear Readers,
Greetings from the Centre for Alternative Dispute Redressal (CADR), Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law (RGNUL) and welcome to the CADR Blog.
There are over 89 lakh civil cases pending in India. Each year, hundreds of thousands more are added to this list. One would think that in such a system, where delays in the Judiciary are rife, and where the number of cases instituted are exponential and far and above the capacity of the system to deal with, ADR mechanisms will receive adequate stimulus to flourish. However, the growth of ADR mechanisms has not been at par with expectations. On the contrary, India has been slow and conservative to consider various ADR methods, with the exception of Arbitration perhaps, as serious methods to resolve disputes and as alternates to litigation. In sectors where ADR is pervasive, inefficiency remains a key concern.
The tragedy above raises an opportunity for academic institutions – to assess, analyse, and comment on legislative/policy developments, judicial decisions and other developments in the ADR sector. Vishnu Konoorayar’s foundational paper on the effectiveness of ADR in India, which statistically assessed the issues hindering ADR growth, found that research in the sector is lacking and empirical, doctrinal and comparative research is important for suggesting strategies for better efficiency of ADR. Another important facet that the paper hinted at was the necessity of training professionals and creating exclusive pools of practitioners with practical and academic knowledge of ADR and embedded in the culture of dispute resolution.
It is with this view that this blog is being initiated – to integrate the academia and the professional world.
In the brief period of CADR’s existence, we have made dogged efforts to contribute to the growth of ADR, not only in our University or the region, but across India. These efforts have yielded in results such that today, CADR organizes some of the most innovative, novel events in India – be they ADR competitions with a focus on exclusive sectors, concerted research in sectors where the academia has been slow to venture, or training courses aimed at initiating and providing opportunity to students and budding professionals to hone their skills.
At CADR, we firmly believe that any initiative we undertake, must not be ostentatious display, but must contribute to the practical issues facing the ADR world. Thus, throughout all our efforts, we are pleased to have built networks in the professional world and partnered with institutions that share our passion for ADR.
Value Addition through this Blog –
As already stated above, this blog aims to serve the interests of students and professionals. This commitment has resulted in us partnering with professionals in various fields for the purpose of ensuring that our content is relevant. The Board of Advisors to this Blog consists of top practitioners who are friends and mentors to CADR, and with their involvement, we aim to deliver research and updates which will benefit firms, practitioners, academicians and students alike. Over the course of the next few days, we will be uploading details about such individuals who have associated themselves with this blog.
The content of the Blog is designed to have various heads – each contributing in its way to different, but important discussions.
Research – The primary facet of any academic Blog. The few ADR centered research portals that we have in India are majorly focused on Arbitration. CADR wanted to break away from this monotone and deliver something which focuses on academic research in other fields of ADR, whilst simultaneously breaking new grounds in Arbitration. Thus, we have the following sub-categorizations –
Arbitration,
Mediation,
Negotiation,
Conciliation. Every month the Editorial Board will release a set of themes that it feels are interesting and invite for submissions on such topic. These are, however, suggestive. This blog will remain open for submissions on any and all topics and which meet the benchmark for our submissions, irrespective of any theme that the Editorial Board will be focusing on in a given month. For submissions to the Blog, refer to our guidelines.
CADR Newsletter – The world of ADR is dynamic, international and fast-developing. It is key for ADR practitioners to remain updated with developments happening globally. However, we understand that it is not possible for any practitioner to consistently follow these updates and sift through the hundreds of developments to understand which development is more important. The CADR Newsletter is aimed at providing regular updates to developments in ADR. The Newsletter provides multi-jurisdictional news that has been compiled by students and vetted by industry professionals before upload to ensure that the information that you receive is relevant and key to ADR across the globe. To get the Newsletter delivered to your email, sign up for updates or drop in an email at adrc@rgnul.ac.in with the subject – “CADR Newsletter Registration”.
ADR Glossary – We have all been novices to ADR at some point or the other, hoping to come across information troves which clarify the basics succinctly. However, information about the basics of ADR is scattered and, in some cases, not accessible. This Open Project aims to provide foundational and compilatory research for students starting their journey into ADR as well as for professionals who require a recapitulation of the basics of various ADR concepts. The glossary provides a concise definition to key concepts and then an elaboration of the concepts as understood from authoritative texts. Recent developments in such concepts will also be provided.
The Blog is a work in progress, and we are hopeful that with this, CADR may contribute to developing an ADR culture in India which is global and professional. We understand that this is an ambitious project but hope to develop skills in the nascent stages that will yield to the purposes of this blog fructifying. To that extent, we invite your comments and suggestions. You may direct them at adrc@rgnul.ac.in.
We thank you and wish you a happy reading!
Regards,
Mohit Dang, Head (Research), CADR.