Alternative Dispute Resolution in Civil Litigation: Assessing Lok Adalats’ Impact on Judicial Backlog Reduction in India

The present research studies the effectiveness of Lok Adalats in reducing the judicial backlog in the civil litigation system in India. India's constitution guarantees access to justice, but there is a huge pendency crisis, with over 49 million cases pending. Lok Adalats, being home grown Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms, have become one of the remedies to this systemic ailment. It also studies Lok Adalats from various lenses including their constitutional and statutory basis, their organizational hierarchy, and a quantitative assessment of how they contribute to case disposal and a qualitative measurement of the quality of resolution in them. From 2016-2023, approximately 31.45 million cases were resolved confirming, statistically, significant contributions towards backlog reduction. Settlement rates averaging 62.3% indicate remarkable efficiency compared to traditional adjudication. Qualitative analysis shows high levels of participant satisfaction and sustainability of settlements greater than 80%. Challenges continue to be experienced in decentralized implementation, capacity development and quality assurance across regions. Comparative study of international ADR frameworks like Japanese Chotei, Philippine Barangay justice, Singapore’s need for differentiation of cases, provides constructive feedback for improvement. The research unveils strategic recommendations through legislative changes, systematic capacity building, technology integration, and comprehensive monitoring frameworks. In a unique contribution to global ADR jurisprudence, the way forward lies in sustaining the lok adalats, as this can be a tremendous tool for appropriate sustainable judicial workload, along with maintaining cultural congruence in settling disputes.