Alternate to Alternatives: Critical Review of the Claims of ADR

Abstract

Discords are bound to arise in society and ingenious human minds have always devised ways and means for resolution of conflicts. The phenomenon, law, itself can be seen as a result of the quest to address potential problems. Nature has endowed people with rationality and they have constantly attempted to discover methods of establishing a cohesive society. Dispute resolution is one of the major functions of a stable society. Through the medium of the State, norms and institutions are created to secure social order and to attain the ends of justice or the least to establish dispute resolution processes. States function through different organs and the judiciary is one that is directly responsible for the administration of justice. In commonplace perception judiciary is the tangible delivery point of justice. Resolving disputes is fundamental to the peaceful existence of society. Therefore, effective and efficient systems for determination of disputes become an obvious appendage. This working paper, to begin with, offers a macro understanding of the dispute resolution methods existing in India. The emerging trend of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) will be the focus of the next section of the paper. The rationale of the ADR movement will be critically explored to assess its usefulness in terms of realising the ends of justice in the last part.