The Nari Adalats: Women-only courts for alternative dispute resolution

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in News?
• What is Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR)?
• Types of ADR
• What are Lok Adalats?
• About the Nari Adalats [women’s courts]
• Other Aspects of Nari Adalats
• Significance of Nari Adalats

 

Why in News?

• The Centre is launching a unique initiative of setting up women-only courts - Nari Adalats - at the village level as an alternate dispute resolution forum for issues like domestic violence, property rights and countering the patriarchal system.

 

What is Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR)?

• It is the process by which disputes between the parties are settled or brought to an amicable result without the intervention of Judicial Institution and without any trial.
• ADR offers to resolve all types of matters including civil, commercial, industrial and family etc., where people are not able to start any type of negotiation and reach a settlement.
• Generally, ADR uses a neutral third party who helps the parties to communicate, discuss the differences and resolve the dispute.
• It is a mechanism of dispute resolution that is non-adversarial - working together cooperatively to reach the best resolution for everyone. It can be instrumental in reducing the burden of litigation on courts.

 

Types of ADR:

• Arbitration: The dispute is submitted to an arbitral tribunal which makes a decision (an "award") on the dispute that is mostly binding on the parties.
• Conciliation: A non-binding procedure in which an impartial third party, the conciliator, assists the parties to a dispute in reaching a mutually satisfactory agreed settlement of the dispute.
• Mediation:
  • In mediation, an impartial person called a "Mediator" helps the parties try to reach a mutually acceptable resolution of the dispute.
  • The mediator does not decide the dispute but helps the parties communicate so they can try to settle the dispute themselves.
• Negotiation: A non-binding procedure in which discussions between the parties are initiated without the intervention of any third party with the object of arriving at a negotiated settlement to the dispute.
• Lok Adalat: An interesting feature of the Indian legal system is the existence of voluntary agencies called Lok Adalats (Peoples' Courts).

 

What are Lok Adalats?

• About: It is a form of party-based (parties involved in the dispute) justice in which people and judges work together to resolve problems by discussion, persuasion and mutual consent, in order to provide affordable and timely justice.
• Legal backing: Lok Adalats have been given statutory status under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987.
• Powers:
  • Lok Adalats shall have jurisdiction over -
    • Any case pending before the court.
    • Any matter which is falling within the jurisdiction of and is not brought before any court (pre-litigation stage).
  • The award (decision) made by the Lok Adalats is deemed to be a decree of a civil court.
  • Such award is final and binding on all parties and no appeal against such an award lies before any court of law.
  • There is no court fee payable when a matter is filed in a Lok Adalat.

 

About the Nari Adalat [women’s court]:

• The scheme would be run by the Ministry of Women and Child Development under the Sambal sub-scheme of Mission Shakti, which is dedicated to strengthening women’s safety, security and empowerment.
• It would be launched on a pilot basis in 50 villages each in Assam and J&K and would be extended to the rest of the country over the next six months.
• The implementation process will be done in collaboration with the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, the Ministry of Rural Development and Common Service Centers operated by the MeitY.
• The scheme takes inspiration from the Parivarik Mahila Lok Adalats [People’s Court of Women] which were run by the National Commission for Women (NCW) till 2014-15.

 

Other Aspects of Nari Adalats:

• The Nari Adalat of each village would have 7-9 members/Nyaya Sakhis [legal friends] -
  • Half of which would be the elected members of the gram panchayat and
  • The other half are women with social standing like teachers, doctors and social workers - who would be nominated by the villagers.
  • The head of Nari Adalat called the Mukhya Nyaya Sakhi [chief legal friend] will be chosen among the Nyaya Sakhis, generally for a six-month term.
• The Nari Adalat though does not hold any legal status, has its primary focus on reconciliation, grievance redressal and creating awareness of rights and entitlements.

 

Significance of Nari Adalats:

• The Nari Adalat will not only address individual cases but also raise awareness about social schemes under the government while collecting valuable feedback to enhance the effectiveness of these initiatives.
• It will cater to all women and girls who require assistance or have grievances within the local community.

 

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Q1) What is the National Commission for Women (NCW) of India?

NCW is the statutory body of the Government of India, generally concerned with advising the government on all policy matters affecting women. It was established on 31 January 1992 under the 1990 National Commission for Women Act.

 

Q2) What is Mission Shakti?

The Government of India has launched 'Mission Shakti' - an integrated women empowerment programme as an umbrella scheme for the safety, security and empowerment of women for implementation during the 15th Finance Commission period 2021-22 to 2025-26.

 

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Source: Coming, women-only courts for alternative dispute resolution