CJI Surya Kant Pitches For ‘Multi-Door Courthouse’ For Comprehensive Dispute Resolution

Panaji: Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said on Friday that he envisions a transition towards a multi-door courthouse where the court is a comprehensive centre for dispute resolution and not merely a place for trial.

Addressing the inaugural session of the Bar Council of India’s National Conference and Symposium on Mediation in South Goa, the CJI said there is a need for a larger number of mediators across all levels, from district courts to the apex court. Mediation, which can reduce judicial pendency, is not a sign of the law’s weakness but its highest evolution, he said and highlighted the need for a national-level legal academy to train lawyers across the country to tackle challenges emerging from AI and cybercrimes.

“We are entering an era where artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a powerful tool for helping the legal platform, but technology is also leading us to different kinds of crimes,” he said. The CJI said some cybercrimes are “completely unheard of”.

“The way cybercriminals are innovating with new modes of crimes, the challenges (before the legal system) will become larger and more serious in the days to come,” he said. Kant said he has been wondering how the members of the Bar can equip themselves to face the challenges that will emerge in future.

“When you are dealing with cybercrime, you are dealing with the victim of a crime by cybercriminals. Are you professionally equipped to face such a kind of challenge?” he asked. The CJI said he feels that there should be a national-level legal academy like the National Judicial Academy.

“As we look forward towards the horizon, I envision a transition towards the multi-door courthouse. What I mean to say is that this is a visionary concept where the court ceases to be a singular venue for trials. Rather, it becomes a comprehensive centre for dispute resolution,” he said.

The CJI said that when a seeker of justice approaches a court, they must find the doors to mediation, arbitration, and ultimately litigation, each tailored to the specific nature of their grievance.

“We must acknowledge that there are bound to be some cases which cannot be resolved through arbitration or mediation. Therefore, the judicial system will always be prepared for fair litigation trials to adjudicate those disputes,” he said.

The CJI said the multi-door court concept is the “ultimate empowerment of litigants”. After giving the ‘Oath of Mediation’ to all the participants at the event, the CJI said that mediation is a cause that he holds dear to his heart with deep conviction.

“Litigation is often the autopsy of a dead relationship and clinical exam of what went wrong. Mediation, on the contrary, is the remedial surgery that seeks to preserve the living pulse of a connection. To truly grasp the significance of mediation in our present context, we might look at a piece of local wisdom,” he said.

The CJI said that the success of mediation lies in the mediator’s ability to speak not only the local or regional language, but also the dialect, expressions, and cultural idiom of the person for whom the mediation is being conducted.

Asserting the need for mediation training, he said there are 39,000 trained mediators, but there is a gap in “demand and supply”. For effective implementation of mediation at all levels, the country needs over 2,50,000 trained mediators, said the CJI.

He said that one has to be very careful while training people as a mediator because mediation is not just an art, as the “temperament, behaviour, compassion, passion, commitment, and devotion” of a mediator makes a lot of difference in making the efforts a successful story.

The campaign “Mediation for Nation” was launched in July this year to cut judicial pendency by resolving several kinds of disputes, including matrimonial, commercial and motor accidents, he said.

“I must share with you that the results were more than expected and very encouraging. I am sure that with the introduction of trained mediators at every ladder, our success story will be on a great height and there will be significant achievements in that regard,” the CJI said.

He said that mediation is not a sign of the law’s weakness, but rather its highest evolution. “It is a true transition from a culture of adjudication to a culture of participation where we cultivate harmony,” he said.

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, SC judges, including Justice J K Maheshwari, Justice P S Narasimha, Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah, Justice N Kotiswar Singh, Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra, Chief Justice of Bombay High Court Justice S Chandrasekhar, Chairman of Bar Council of India Manan Kumar Mishra and Advocate General of Goa Devidas Pangam were among those present on the occasion.

The function was held at the India International University of Legal Education and Research in South Goa. Earlier in the day, the CJI took part in a symbolic walk for ‘Mediation Awareness’ near Kala Academy in Panaji. “Mediation is being accepted as successful and cost-effective. It is a win-win situation for both parties as it is a settlement,” he said.

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