Wednesday, November 28, 2012

A Mediation Case in Pune.(Media)

At last my hunt for some Mediation cases in the Indian media is fetching results. I'll post cases reported in the Indian media on Mediation.
This was reported in the Times Of India, where while hearing advance bail plea, court sends marital dispute for mediation on 7th November 2012

"PUNE: For the first time, a local court has referred a matrimonial dispute case to a mediator.
The court was hearing an anticipatory bail plea filed by a software engineer and his family on Saturday. The man moved the court fearing arrest in a matrimonial dispute case filed by his wife, who is a constable at the immigration counter of the Pune airport.


Web-link: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-11-06/pune/34947486_1_mediation...

Monday, November 26, 2012

Parents and Divorce Proceeding.

One of the mediations that I sat through was, where the mediator played a counsellor on the request of the daughter who was going through the Divorce.
As the Divorce case was coming to a close the mother of the party (lady) was heading towards a nervous breakdown. Fortunately, she had come to trust the warm and friendly mediator at the Bangalore Mediation Centre.

The family was a typical middle class where the father was the provider, the mother had never stepped out but took complete charge of the household. Her only interactions were of the neighborhood ladies or the family women folk who thrived on gossip from families. She could not come to terms with the fact that she was on the other side of the fence.
Surprising, that the mother cared more of that fraternity than the daughters' well being. How and when our priorities get lost sometimes we never know.
The mediator convinced her that as a mother she needs to stand by her daughter and help her move on with her life. The father was still aloof and not used to playing a vital role on the emotional front in the family, he was suffering but had no vocabulary to express I guess even to himself.


"In our world, a divorce is SEP — Somebody Else’s Problem. It never comes home. It’s what is spoken of in hushed tones about far-off relatives when you meet other far-off relatives.
My poor mother. She became the gossip...." writes Arathi Menon, read here


http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/joSxYsgRB6THhxWW3NOYgO/DANCING-DIVORCEE-When-the-heart-breaks-again.html

I feel, here is a society thats changing surely, but rather fast for the generation before us. This is because they cemented relationships by having problems and solving them together,  they went through there ups and downs. There were unsaid rules of the society. Once the children came in life revolved around them and they take priority. Yes, they do pay a price where either of the spouse specially the mother's sacrifices end up being more. This role of the woman is changing..the men are not willing to get ready...this is what I have understood.



The Custody Dilemma.

Children are the worst sufferers in any Divorce proceeding. Always. How does one decide which child goes where? For a child both parents are equally important. Here is a query of a parent, of course no one can give a satisfying reply to a situation like this.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/H05k1dyvstfzD07mUK2i1O/The-custody-dilemma.html

If you have anything to say on this please add to the comments here.

Friday, November 16, 2012

Litigation and Mediation.

"Mediation":

The Dictionary meaning.

mediation |ˌmēdēˈāSHən|
noun
intervention in a dispute in order to resolve it; arbitration: the parties have sought mediation and it has failed.
• intervention in a process or relationship; intercession: they are offering sacrifice and mediation between God and man.
DERIVATIVES
mediational adjective


The Thesaurus, says, the noun Mediation is ,
mediation between victims and offenders: arbitration, conciliation, reconciliation, intervention, intercession, good offices; negotiation, shuttle diplomacy.


In strict legal terms Mediation is one of the "Alternative Dispute Resolution" Technique.
disputes do not come under the purview of Mediation but, 75-80% of the cases can be solved easily through the technique of mediation.

If we look at many of the cases filed in courts they could be easily resolved by simply sitting across the table. Since, they has been filed the prescribed procedure has to take its course. It is also that that is the only option available to the citizens. Many a case is filed for revenge or in a rage, many a party regret having filed after a certain lapse of time and loosing money. The procedures of the common law simply do not allow for a communication between parties. The parties even forget the nuances of a case as it proceeds.

For example, a case filed by a neighbor where the plaintiff did not want the defendant who was constructing a house to have windows facing his own house windows for  privacy. As the parties did not communicate well on this issue a case resulted. The construction of the house was stalled owing to an injunction order passed by the court.
When the matter came up for hearing again the judge saw that there was a scope for the matter to be settled . He asked both the parties to go for Mediation.
At the mediation centre the parties sat before the neutral mediator and talked the issue without any harsh words. The plaintiff expressed his concern of privacy and the defendant said that he had no problem in getting the windows shifted away from the plaintiff's windows.
As the mediation agreement was getting ready the warring parties actually got to know each other well and parted as friends.
The Mediation turned into a boon for what would have been a matter dragging in courts for a few years.

 Mediation is basically just a form of facilitated negotiation. The mediator's role is to act as a neutral third umpire to help each party identify his/her/its principal interests, and find ways that each party can get what it really wants/needs out of the process.

"Mediation can prevent or resolve litigation, because it promotes settlement, but if at the end of a mediation there is no agreement, that dispute doesn't just evaporate into the ether. The next step, naturally, is to submit the dispute for adjudication, either by a private arbitrator or by a court."
Also, A Mediation works best when the two parties are of approximately equal leverage and bargaining power, and ideally when the parties need to maintain an ongoing relationship. The former is almost never and the latter is not always the case when a dispute occurs."

says Stephanie Vardavas,
Attorney, mediator/arbitrator, product safety consultant in www.quora.com.



Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Chief Justice Of India on Mediation.

A two-day conference has been organized in July 2012 jointly by the Mediation and Conciliation Project Committee of the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court Mediation Monitoring Committee.

....to resolve “complex” commercial disputes involving the pricing of natural resources like gas and oil as judges may lack the expertise and their decisions could affect the country’s economy.

The judgments delivered by judges sometimes can hit the economy of the country which is not good,” he said.


http://www.indianexpress.com/news/cji-for-mediation-to-solve-disputes/971894