Online Dispute Resolution- Application and Challenges

Alternative Dispute Resolution means resolving the conflicts between the parties concerned outside the periphery of the courts. But the ADR is something which is not new to India. It has been prevalent in the country since beginning time. Legal history indicates that there were many ways through which people obtained justice which were easy, convincible and helped in reducing the burden of the king. This type of system was prevalent in resolving issues related to families and other domestic affairs and also minor issues relating to property. The oldest written source which provided the codes of law and the method to resolve the conflicts among the people. The Punch system in the ancient time, which can also be described as earlier form of ADR, helped in maintaining the stability by resolving the conflicts which can be resolved by negotiating with the involved parties. Alternative Dispute Resolution came to be used explicitly with the overloading burden on the courts as each judge in the court has been assigned to resolve many cases in a day. Thus, filing a case in the court is a time consuming task and it takes a lot of time in resolving a dispute. Now, with the coming of new techniques in ADR such as mediation, arbitration and conciliation, most of the disputes are settled outside the courts. With the coming of internet as a platform of political, financial and social activities, the ADR has also taken a step ahead in form of Online Dispute Resolution as Section 89 of Civil Procedure Code clearly mentions the terms of it. This concept is certainly evolving in India as in the case of Salem Advocate Bar vs. Union of India (2003) gave rules for proper functioning of ADR. The paper talks about the application of ADR in various fields and what are the challenges of the same in the country. Is it effective enough? How well the country has accepted it?