Mediation
Manipur State Legal Services Authority is fully dedicated to encourage settlement of cases through mediation. At present, there are currently 41 trained judicial officers and 22 trained advocates who have undergone 40 hours mediation training programme provided by trained mediators of Mediation and Conciliation Project Committee [MCPC] of Supreme Court.
At present, there is a fully functional mediation centre housing the office of the MASLSA at ADR Building, Lamphel Court Complex. This centre is covering the jurisidictions of Imphal East and West districts. Mediation is condcuted here for cases referrred to by the High Court of Manipur, courts under Imphal East and West judicial districts, and Legal Aid CLinices under Imphal East and Imphal West DLSAs. for the remaininng districts, mediation are being conducted at the chamber of the judges and DLSA offices, wherever appropriate as of now. however, construction of 5 mediation centres for Thoubal, Bishnupur, Churachandpur, Ukhrul and Senapati Districts are in the pipeline.
It is always a pleasure to highlight the fact that mediation as a means of resolving disputes have garnered huge traction in the recent times, with people opting to resolve their disputes (cases pending in courts as well as pre-litigation matters) in an amicable manner.
After all, it also can be said that mediation or some variation of it, as a mechanism of resolving disputes was pre-existing in Manipur and pre-dates the present legal system. Glimpses of it still can be seen when the locality members try to resolve certain disputes of their locality by mutual agreement and amicably. Not to say the least, MASLSA is also organizing Lok Adalats, which provides an opportunity to the people to settle their claims and dues, and other disputes by their mutual agreement without invoking the normal procedural laws.
Mediation is conducted both for Pre-litigation and pending cases. In pre-litigation stage mediation, the disputes are settled before reaching the court. A good number of cases registered in the Legal Aid Clinics are being dealt in pre-litigation stage by the Para Legal Volunteers. Also, t by issuing summons to the other parties and then these cases are being settled in mediation like proceeding [in short, hybrid mediation] by the Member Secretary, Manipur State Legal Services Authority. At present, state of Manipur has one mediation centre for Imphal East and Imphal West located at ADR Building, Lamphelpat which is also housing the office of MASLSA. However, 5 mediation centre have been proposed at Churachandpur, Thoubal, Senapati, Ukhrul and Bishnupur. Mediation are being conducted by mediator consisting of both trained Judicial Officers and Advocates who are engaged with their own court's duty.
Please click here to view the list of trained mediators for Manipur State Legal Services Authority