Mediation Act, 2023: A Plain-Language Guide

The Mediation Act, 2023 is India's first standalone central legislation devoted to mediation. It creates a single framework for pre-litigation, court-referred, institutional, community and online mediation, and for the recognition of mediated settlement agreements.

The most important point: the Act is only partly in force

The Act received presidential assent on 14 September 2023. Under Section 1(3), different provisions may commence on different dates. The notification dated 9 October 2023 brought only Sections 1, 3, 26, 31–38, 45–47, 50–54 and 56–57 into force.

Accordingly, the central provisions governing the conduct of mediation, appointment and role of mediators, time limits, settlement agreements, confidentiality, online mediation, enforcement and challenge have been enacted but have not yet commenced. Any page describing those provisions must distinguish the future statutory framework from the law presently operative.

Pre-litigation and court-referred mediation

Section 5 provides a voluntary pre-litigation route based on mutual consent. It does not make mediation a universal precondition to filing civil proceedings. Qualifying commercial suits that do not contemplate urgent interim relief remain governed by the separate mandatory pre-institution mediation requirement in Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015.

Section 7 provides for referral by a court or tribunal, but this provision has not yet commenced. Existing court-annexed mediation continues to operate under other laws, rules and court schemes.

Procedure, confidentiality and time limits

Section 18 provides a 120-day period from the date fixed for the parties' first appearance before the mediator, extendable by agreement for up to 60 days. Confidentiality is addressed in Section 22 and privilege against disclosure in Section 23. These provisions form part of the enacted framework but are not yet in force.

Settlement and enforcement

Sections 19 and 20 deal with the form, authentication and optional registration of a mediated settlement agreement. Section 27 provides that a qualifying agreement will be enforceable under the Code of Civil Procedure as if it were a court judgment or decree. Section 28 confines a statutory challenge to fraud, corruption, impersonation or mediation of a matter not fit for mediation, subject to its limitation period.

Because Sections 19, 20, 27 and 28 have not commenced, a settlement reached today must still be enforced through the legal route that presently applies to it—for example, as a contract, a consent decree, an arbitral award on agreed terms, a Lok Adalat award or an order of the referring forum.

Mediation Council of India

Section 31, which is in force, authorises the Central Government to establish the Mediation Council of India by notification. Section 32 concerns the Council's composition. Other provisions describing registration, recognition and regulatory functions should not be presented as fully operational unless the relevant establishment, appointments, rules and notifications have been verified.

Matters not fit for mediation

The First Schedule contains a detailed list of matters ordinarily not fit for mediation. It should not be reduced to a single rule about criminal cases: the Schedule includes several criminal, regulatory, tax, competition, securities, environmental and third-party-rights categories, with statutory qualifications and provisos.

This page explains the central Act. It does not replace checking the latest commencement notifications, rules, court schemes or sector-specific legislation applicable to a particular dispute.