Accord Mediation Centre is an initiative for the Pre-litigation Mediations and Conciliations to support the Community at large, to resolve their disputes and litigation problems. It is established during 2010, in the 1st Floor of Katticaran Chambers, Near High Court of Kerala, Ernakulam, Kerala, India. For all these years the Mediation Centre focused on Pre-litigation Mediations and helped many persons to solve their problems without even going to a Court of law. In May, 2019, the Accord Mediation Centre started a separate Mediation Centre with all facilities in the 3rd Floor of Katticaran Chambers providing separate sitting area, Mediation Halls with facilities of confidential private sessions etc.
Mediation is a method of Alternative Dispute Resolution in which the parties resolve their difference with the assistance of a Mediator, who is a neutral trained person. The Mediation can be initiated by any of the parties in dispute. A party can approach for mediation before they go to a Court or other Forum. Lawyer/Advocates also refer matters which require speedy remedy, in the best interest of their clients. Mediation is suitable even in matters pending before a Court of law.
In general, mediation can be applied to all sorts of disputes. One of the main benefits of mediation is that the parties can resolve to settle their dispute on their own terms and after looking into account their interests ,agree to take into account a broad range of aspects, especially concerning commercial and business interests, matrimonial disputes , property disputes , money disputes and so on…
Conciliation is an alternative ‘out of Court disputes resolution instrument’. Conciliation is a voluntary proceeding, where the parties involved are free to agree and attempt to resolve their dispute by conciliation. They are interest-based, as the conciliator will when proposing a settlement, not only take into account the parties' legal positions, but also their; commercial, financial and / or personal interests. Like in mediation proceedings, the ultimate decision to agree on the settlement remains with the parties.
The parties are free to select their conciliator. The parties may base their selection on criteria such as; experience, professional and / or personal expertise, availability, language and cultural skills. A conciliator should be impartial and independent. Due to the informal and flexible nature of conciliation proceedings, they can be conducted in a time and cost-efficient manner. The parties usually agree on confidentiality. Thus, disputes can be settled discretely and confidentially .Thus business secrets will remain confidential. A conciliation settlement agreement is valid and legally binding in India as per the Provisions of Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996.The settlement Agreement shall have the same status and effect of an Arbitral Award as per Section74 of the Act. Disputant need not resort to litigation spending time, money and energy.
