Sixth Schedule of Mediation Act 2023

The Sixth Schedule, read with section 61 of the Mediation Act, 2023, provides for amendments to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. Its central purpose is to align statutory references to conciliation with the mediation framework created by the Mediation Act, while protecting conciliation proceedings that had already commenced under the earlier law.

What the Sixth Schedule changes

The Schedule makes two principal changes to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. First, it removes specified references to mediation and conciliation from section 43D. Second, it substitutes the former conciliation provisions in sections 61 to 81 with new sections 61 and 62 dealing with statutory references to conciliation and the saving of existing conciliation proceedings.

Amendment to Section 43D

Under clause (a) of the Sixth Schedule, section 43D of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 is amended as follows:

New Section 61 - Reference of conciliation in enactments

The substituted section 61 establishes how references to conciliation in other laws are to operate under the new mediation framework.

Section 61(1)

Where another enactment provides for resolution of disputes through conciliation in accordance with the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, that provision is to be construed as a reference to mediation under the Mediation Act, 2023.

Section 61(2)

Conciliation provided under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 and the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 is to be construed as mediation referred to in clause (h) of section 3 of the Mediation Act, 2023.

Meaning of mediation under Section 3(h)

Section 3(h) of the Mediation Act, 2023 defines "mediation" broadly as a process, whether referred to by the expression mediation, pre-litigation mediation, online mediation, community mediation, conciliation or an expression of similar import, whereby parties attempt to reach an amicable settlement of their dispute with the assistance of a third person who does not have authority to impose a settlement upon them.

This definition is important for understanding the Sixth Schedule because it brings conciliation within the statutory concept of mediation for the purposes contemplated by the Mediation Act.

New Section 62 - Saving of earlier conciliation proceedings

The substituted section 62 contains a saving provision. Notwithstanding section 61, a conciliation proceeding initiated under sections 61 to 81 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 as those provisions stood before commencement of the Mediation Act, 2023 is to continue under the earlier regime as though the Mediation Act had not been enacted.

The provision therefore separates already initiated conciliation proceedings from the new statutory mediation framework and preserves continuity for such proceedings.

Legal effect of the Sixth Schedule

Read with section 61 of the Mediation Act, the Sixth Schedule restructures the relationship between mediation and the earlier statutory conciliation regime under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act. References in other enactments to conciliation under that Act are redirected to mediation under the Mediation Act, while proceedings already initiated under the former conciliation provisions remain protected by the saving clause.

Section 56 of the Mediation Act separately provides that the Act does not apply to mediation or conciliation commenced before the Act comes into force. The saving provision in the substituted section 62 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act is consistent with that transitional approach.

Text covered by the Sixth Schedule

The Sixth Schedule applies to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (26 of 1996) and, in substance, provides:

This article should be read with the current text of the Mediation Act, 2023 and the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 as published by the competent authority.