Saturday, July 31, 2010

Legal and Judicial Systems Of India Need Innovative Methods


Indian judiciary is under tremendous pressure and the increasing backlog of cases is further adding stress to its already stressed functioning. No matter how many courts we open and no matter how many judges we recruit, this backlog of cases would keep on increasing. This is so because our legal and judicial system is deficient and defective.

The legal system is defective as it provides breeding ground for excessive, redundant and fruitless litigation. The governmental departments are in a “compulsive habit” of dragging cases up to the Supreme Court level even though they need not be filed at the very first stage themselves. There are no efforts taken to use alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms like arbitration, conciliation, mediation, etc to settle cases out of court.

The judicial system is defective as it allows these redundant cases to be filed and dragged up to the level of Supreme Court. No sincere and serious efforts are undertaken to divert civil disputes to ADR mechanisms. The judicial system is also lethargic to adopt and use information and communication technology (ICT) for dispute resolution and effective justice administration.

The truth is that India needs innovative methods to tackle increasing backlog of cases and future cases. At least two innovative methods can be adopted by Indian judiciary. The first one pertains to adoption of online dispute resolution (ODR) mechanisms in India. Till now not even ADR has been properly used in India so using ODR seems to be a distant dream.

Secondly, nothing is more effective than use of e-courts in India. Till the month of August 2010 we are still waiting for the establishment of first e-court in India. India is really confused between computerised courts and e-courts. Whereas India has few computerised courses it has no e-court till now.

There is an urgent need of bringing suitable legal and judicial reforms in India and innovative concepts like ODR and E-Courts can go a long way in achieving this objective. The National Litigation Policy of India (NLPI) has also unfortunately failed to accommodate these innovative concepts. Law Minister Veerappa Moily must include these innovative methods in the amended NLPI as soon as possible.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Online Dispute Resolution And Cross Border E-Commerce Transactions


Online dispute resolution (ODR) essentially involves innovative use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to resolve disputes. ODR is an improvement of the traditional alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms like arbitration, mediation, conciliations, etc. Although all these forms of ADR mechanism are still used in ODR yet the main difference is that of technology.

Being technology driven, ODR is a very wide field. It can be used for resolving various interpersonal disputes including consumer to consumer disputes (C2C) or marital separation; to court disputes and interstate conflicts. However, the most significant use of ODR is its application to e-commerce. In particular ODR is most suitable for resolving disputes arising out of business to consumer (B2C) and business to business (B2B) online transactions.

ODR is also conducive for resolving disputes between parties that are residing in far away and opposite countries of the World. In this ICT connected World, ODR is increasingly used for resolving disputes arising out of cross-border electronic commerce transactions, including B2B and B2C transactions.

However, ODR cannot succeed in the absence of harmonised legal and regulatory framework. There must be a common standard and best practices for ODR to succeed. Similarly, another key factor for the success of ODR is efficient enforcement. Without efficient enforcement ODR would lack the appeal to the parties to adopt ODR for dispute resolution.

Although the journey of ODR has begun yet it has still to cover a long gap. At Perry4Law we would always strive for the betterment of ODR in general and parties to the dispute in particular. Our specialised Techno Legal Segment Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB) has been working in the sphere of “International Harmonisation” regarding ODR.

We are not only providing Techno Legal ODR Services but are also working in the direction of Research, Training, Education and Policy Making regarding ADR and ODR. We hope our initiatives and efforts would prove useful for all concerned.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Online Dispute Resolution Got Techno Legal Boost


Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is an important method of speedier, economic and effective dispute resolution. Information and communication technology (ICT) has further increased the efficiency and benefits of ADR. Now the newer concepts like Cyber Arbitration, Cyber Mediation, Online Dispute Resolution (ODR), etc have emerged. 

Trans border E-Commerce activities and business activities mandate that there must be an effective, timely and suitable ADR and ODR mechanism in place where business have to be established. This correlation of foreign direct investment and ADR and ODR is not only direct but also very remunerative. Absence of effective ADR and ODR mechanism may prove detrimental to the valuable foreign exchange. 

Perry4Law is managing exclusive Techno Legal ADR and ODR Services in India and World wide. Further, Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB) is also managing the best techno Legal ADR and ODR Research and Training Centre of India and World wide. The best part is that these ADR and ODR initiatives have been “Integrated” with an allied and very promising field known as E-Courts.

To provide holistic and coordinating activities regarding ADR and ODR, Perry4Law and PTLB have launched the most comprehensive Techno Legal Initiatives of the World. This initiative is combining all the possible aspects of Techno Legal Field at a “Single Platform”.The only requirement that remained was a Blog through which we can share our ideas, projects, initiatives, collaborative activities, etc. With the present platform even this has been achieved.

Persons or institutions interested in having a joint project, sponsorship, partnership, tie up, association, memorandum of understanding (MOU), etc may contact us in this regard.