conciliation

Conciliation is a form of alternative dispute resolution. Part III of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (ss.61 to 81) governs it: the conciliator assists the parties and may make proposals for settlement, which is what separates conciliation from purely facilitative mediation. A settlement agreement signed by the parties has the same status and effect as an arbitral award (s.74). The proceedings are confidential, and views expressed in them cannot be relied on in later litigation (s.81).

Section 89 CPC lists conciliation among the methods to which a court may refer a dispute. The Mediation Act, 2023 brings conciliation within its scheme of mediation. In labour law, conciliation officers try to settle industrial disputes under the Industrial Relations Code, 2020.

Example

Unlike an arbitrator, the conciliator imposes nothing; the conciliation ended in a signed settlement that is enforceable like an arbitral award under section 74.

In Indian law

• Part III (ss.61 to 81), Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996
• Section 89, Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (settlement of disputes outside court)
• Mediation Act, 2023

See also

mediation · arbitration · alternative dispute resolution · lok adalat

Read more in the study notes

• Judicial power of the administration: quasi-judicial functions and administrative adjudication (Administrative Law)
• Methods of dispute resolution: adversarial, inquisitorial and ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems)
• Need for ADR, international commitments and suitability of disputes (Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems)
• ADR and the Civil Procedure Code: section 89 and Afcons (Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems)
• Lok Adalats and Permanent Lok Adalats (Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems)
• Arbitration: meaning, kinds and salient features of the 1996 Act (Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems)