Justice cannot stay confined to courtrooms, says Supreme Court judge

Justice Kant said delivering justice must extend beyond judgments and reach out to individuals through inclusive, participatory, and trusted processes

Senior Supreme Court judge Justice Surya Kant on Friday said justice cannot remain confined to courtrooms but could be delivered even through mediation, which would ensure that disputes are resolved with fairness and dignity.

AP high court Chief Justice Dheeraj Singh Thakur said on Friday training was given to 1400 mediators in the state high court and 800 more will be trained by December. (Shutterstock)

Addressing the International Mediation Conference organised by Asian Centre for International Arbitration and Mediation in Visakhapatnam, Justice Kant said mediation must be recognised as a Constitutional value that bridges access to justice. “Mediation restores dignity and builds trust, enabling quicker and more compassionate resolutions,” he said.

He said mediation represents the “humane dimension of justice”, turning adversarial conflicts into “cooperative solutions, and helping citizens experience fairness in practical, accessible, and empathetic ways.”

Justice Kant further remarked that delivering justice must extend beyond judgments and reach out to communities and individuals through inclusive, participatory, and trusted processes like mediation. “Mediation should not be considered a concession but a superior process that empowers parties while preserving relationships and mutual respect,” he said.

Stating that Lord Krishna is best mediator, the chief minister said mediation for dispute resolving was not new and it is an age-old practice in villages, where village elders used to resolve disputes through mediation.

Naidu explained the scope of Visakhapatnam emerging as a global technology hub with a data centre to be set up by Google within one or two years. He said the state government is developing a Quantum computing centre in Amaravati and at the same time developing a space city, drone city.

Earlier addressing the gathering National Law Institute Bhopal Vice-chancellor Prof S Suryaprakash suggested establishment of an international school of maritime law in Visakhapatnam with existence of a long coast line and increasing maritime disputes.

He said at present maritime arbitration is going on from Mumbai. He said at present, only Gujarat has the maritime university.

AP high court Chief Justice Dheeraj Singh Thakur said training was given to 1400 mediators in the state high court and 800 more will be trained by December. He said at present there is no method of judging skill or some mechanism to judge the capacity of mediators. “Integrity and Honesty play key roles in mediation and arbitration,” he said.