The fourth session on the second day of the 2nd National Mediation Conference focused on Mediation in Commercial Matters under the Commercial Courts Act, 2025.
The session was chaired by the Hon’ble Shri Justice J.K. Maheshwari and co-chaired by Hon’ble Shri Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay, Judge of the Supreme Court of India; Hon’ble Shri Justice Arun Palli, Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh; and the Chief Justice of the High Court of Delhi.
Key topics discussed included:
1. Pre-litigation mediation under the Commercial Courts Act, 2015.
2. Hybrid Dispute Resolution Models, specifically the Mediation-Arbitration and Arbitration-Mediation-Arbitration processes, and their prospects in India.
3. Online Dispute Resolution (ODR): Best practices, along with challenges related to confidentiality and scalability in India.
4. Global Perspectives on Comparative Mediation Practices, including lessons from the Singapore Convention as well as the EU and US models.
5. Opportunities for India as a hub in International Trade & Investment Mediation.
6. Community Mediation Models: Grassroots practices from around the world.
Other distinguished panellists present included Hon’ble Shri Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan, Chief Justice of the High Court of Jharkhand; Hon’ble Shri Justice P. Sam Koshy, Judge of the High Court for the State of Telangana; Hon’ble Shri Justice Girish Kulkarni, Judge of the Bombay High Court; Smt. Archana Pathak Dave, Additional Solicitor General of the Supreme Court of India; and Shri K. Gopalakrishna Kurup, Advocate General of Kerala. These esteemed contributors provided valuable insights into the topic of mediation.
