The Mediation Act, 2023

The Mediation Act, 2023 (the "Act") was passed by the Rajya Sabha on August 1, 2023, the Lok Sabha on August 7, 2023, and was notified in the Gazette of India after receiving the assent of the President of India on September 15, 2023. First introduced in Parliament on December 20, 2021 ("2021 Bill"), the 2021 Bill was then referred to a Parliamentary Standing Committee ("Standing Committee"), which submitted its report to the Rajya Sabha chairperson on July 13, 2022.

The Act has been enacted to, "promote and facilitate mediation, especially institutional mediation, for resolution of disputes, commercial or otherwise, enforce mediated settlement agreements, provide for a body for registration of mediators, to encourage community mediation and to make online mediation as acceptable and cost effective process and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto," and has been seen as a welcome step in alleviating the growing pressures on an already overburdened