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While online dispute resolution (ODR) is widely considered the digital version of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), there are key differences that not only position ODR as a convenient tool for those involved in disputes but as an innovation that will fundamentally alter the way that access to justice is achieved in India. ODR in Indian can handle disputes of most kinds and, being technology-based, can introduce significant – even game-changing – efficiencies into what is currently a strained and highly ineffectual system.


Contents

ADR as a prerequisite to ODR in India

Strengthening ADR to enable ODR in India

How will ODR in India impact the business of law?

ADR as a prerequisite to ODR in India 

In ways that they have not been able to previously, ODR in India is enabling disputing parties to initiate or respond to claims, submit relevant documentation, discuss facts, negotiate positions online, and receive binding settlements from a neutral platform-appointed mediator or arbitrator. The entire dispute resolution process takes place online, as the name suggests, but the judgments have real world impact in that they are as enforceable as a court-issued decision. If ODR in India can be implemented successfully and made accessible to the very parties who need this form of dispute resolution the most, India’s long-held dream of overcoming the vast problems in its backlogged and under-staffed court system and ensuring access to justice for its people may indeed become a reality.

For this to happen, though, India must have in place an effective alternative dispute resolution framework. In this regard, ODR really does depend on ADR.

Strengthening ADR to enable ODR in India 

In The Future of Dispute Resolution in India, a paper by the JALDI (Justice, Access and Lowering Delays in India) Initiative at the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy (New Delhi/Bengaluru), recommendations are made for how to scale ADR mechanisms in India (arbitration, mediation, conciliation, and Lok Adalats). The mechanisms in and of themselves may indeed be capable of reducing the near 38 million case backlog experienced in Indian’s District Judiciary and High Courts as of July 2020, but they cannot do so unless millions of people are actually able to access those mechanisms. 

The report identifies the following ADR priorities to facilitate the uptake of ODR:

Strengthening mediation

Despite a number of initiatives, mediation is not still popular in India. But it presents enormous potential given its speed and ability to be applied to a wide range of disputes. By improving mediation such that parties see it as a desirable and convenient mode of resolving disputes will improve its reputation and encourage uptake.

Strengthening arbitration

Arbitration is popular in India, but parties’ preference for ad hoc arbitration over institutional arbitration has only led to high costs and the replication of court environments (and their inefficiencies). Low-value disputes exist in their lakhs and considerable malpractice in appointment of arbitrators has resulted from the ensuing chaos. If arbitration can improve such that people have enough faith in arbitration to choose it over a court, arbitrators can concentrate on high-value disputes and leave low-value ones for ODR.

How will ODR in India impact the business of law?

There are a number of reasons why lawyers should welcome the introduction of ODR into the legal landscape, including:

Facilitation of international dispute resolution.

Time zones present problems for lawyers working on international disputes. ODR can help not only because it takes away the requirement for extensive discussion over videoconferencing and telephone, but because it enables users to submit their positions on a common platform, timestamping every interaction and displaying that timestamp in local time. This in and of itself is a powerful feature that relieves lawyers of having to ‘translate time zones’ and work odd hours to facilitate meetings. Some platforms will even have the ability for instantaneous translation, which, again will save countless hours and resources in using third-party translation services.

A shift to online lawyering. 

Naturally, if parties to disputes are taking their claims online, then the lawyers supporting them must also shift their work online. This is welcome news for many lawyers who have spent hours in court buildings awaiting the start of the case, only to find it gets rescheduled for another day. Submissions can be made with the click of a few buttons and in this regard the savings in time and costs, and the introduced procedural efficiencies, will be staggering.

Greater focus on high-value disputes. 

The legal profession is understood to be a skilled one, yet lawyers find themselves caught up in low-value disputes that do not require much skill to resolve at all. If low-value disputes can be settled much easier through ODR, lawyers will be able to focus on higher-value disputes, which are not only more engaging and appropriate for their skill levels but usually are more lucrative. Over the coming years, lawyers should be seeing ODR in India as an opportunity to increase the value of their practice’s workload.

As with many areas in the legal tech and law tech space, the benefits of this new technology will depend on users’ willingness to endure a learning curve and cement the technology in their daily practices. Whether and to what extent this will be realized in India remains to be seen, but the progress so far is encouraging.

 

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