Non-Judicial Grievance Mechanisms at National and International Levels

With legal recourse, anywhere in the world, normally being an expensive, complex and time-consuming means of seeking remedy, the need of the hour is to build a simpler route which caters to the alternate dispute resolution. A Non-Judicial Grievance Mechanism is a formal, non-legal complaint process that can be used by negatively affected individuals, workers, communities and/or civil society organisations.

Provided hereunder are some Non-Judicial Grievance Mechanisms at both national and international level:

NATIONAL:

Gram Panchayat/Nyayalayas
Regulated by the Gram Nyayalaya Act, 2008, Gram Nyayalayas or Gram Panchayats are self-governed bodies established at grass root levels for the purpose of providing access to justice to the citizens at their doorsteps and to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reasons of social, economic or other disabilities. At the discretion of the State on basis of area of population of a village, there can be one or more Nyayalaya for every village.

The Act states that the Gram Nyayalaya will be the court of Nyayadhikari (Judicial Magistrate of Class I) and he will be appointed by State Government in consultation with High Court.

The Nyayadhikari is required to hold mobile courts and conducts proceedings in villages. Jurisdiction of such Courts is both civil and criminal in nature, although Code of Civil Procedure and Evidence Act does not apply while deciding on the dispute. The disputes are rather resolved on the principles of natural justice. The Code of Criminal Procedure (without or without modifications), however, is applied for deciding criminal matters. The order passed by the Gram Nyayalaya is deemed to be a decree of the court and measures then are taken to execute the said decree summarily.

Appeals in criminal matters lie to the Court of Sessions within a period of 30 days from the date of judgement and appeals in civil cases lie to the District Court within 30 days from the date of judgement.

Lok Adalats/Niti Melas
This form of Alternate Dispute Settlement Mechanism evolved as a part of CILAS (Committee for implementing Legal Aid Schemes) with the objective of taking justice to the doorsteps of the poor and to give speedy and cheap justice to those who cannot afford to fight the costly legal battle.

Lok Adalats treat the issue as differences and not as cases and therefore try to resolve them rather than contest it. A dispute is resolved by discussion in an informal atmosphere in which parties and members of the Lok Adalat participate and a settlement is reached by mutual and free consent. The Lok Adalats are constitutionally valid bodies and every award passed by it is deemed to be a decree of a civil court. The said award is binding and no appeal lies under this award to any Court simply by the virtue of the fact that the award is reached by mutual and free consent of both the parties.

Lok Adalats are regulated by Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987. The Act states that these Adalats may be organised in areas as deemed fit by its authorities for any of the dispute which is not brought before any Court provided that the dispute is not related to any offence not compoundable under any law.

Lok Adalats are not governed by Code of Civil Procedure but by principles of justice, equity and good conscience.

Tribunals

Tribunals are self-governed bodies established outside the judicial hierarchy to decide certain types of disputes between citizens or between the government and the citizens. These are presently established at 2 levels:

1. District Level Tribunals (for e.g. Claims Tribunals under Motor Vehicles Act)

2. High Court Level Tribunals (for e.g. NCLT under Companies Act, 2013)

These are established to provide for speedy disposal of cases and to reduce pressure on the already clogged Civil Courts. Once a Tribunal is established, a Civil Court does not have any jurisdiction to entertain the cases falling within the jurisdiction of the said Tribunal. The establishment of Tribunals however does not exclude the jurisdiction of Supreme Court of India. Tribunals in certain cases can also impose penal sanctions and can try certain categories of criminal offences as provided in the Constitution of India.

Commissions
Commissions are constituted by the Government of India either on ad hoc or permanent basis, to guide, advice or provide solutions to various issues coming under the concerned ministry. Not a Non-Judicial Grievance Mechanism per se, but Commissions formed for various purposes take up complains and issues with Competent Authorities and ensure that the justice is done in an expeditious manner.

INTERNATIONAL:

Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman (CAOs)
Compliance Officer/Ombudsman is an independent recourse mechanism especially for projects supported by the International Finance Corporation and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)- the private sector lending arms of the World Bank Group. CAO was established in 1999 and reports directly to the President of the World Bank Group. CAO works to address the concerns of individuals or communities affected by IFC/MIGA projects, enhance the social and environmental outcomes of IFC/MIGA projects, and Foster greater public accountability of IFC and MIGA.

The Office of the CAO is based in Washington, DC.

The Assam Tea Case, which involved TATA Tea and which concerns matters of grave Human Rights violations is referred to CAOs for dispute settlement. The matter is under due process of settlement.

National Contact Points (NCPs)
NCPs are national structures established and financed by governments of the members of Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the states voluntarily associated to the framework programme. NCPs give personalised support on the spot and in applicants' own languages. The NCP systems can vary from one country to another from highly centralised to decentralised networks, and a number of very different actors, from ministries to universities, research centres and special agencies to private consulting companies. The network of National Contact Points (NCPs) is the main structure to provide guidance, practical information and assistance on all aspects of participation in various research programmes of European Commission.

SOURCES:
Case Material on Jurisprudence I: Legal Method, Indian Legal System and Basic Theory of Law, Faculty of Law, University of Delhi;
Teachings of Ms. Komala Ramachandra at Summer Course on Business and Human Rights, Indian Law Institute, New Delhi;
www.grievancemechanisms.org;
www.cao-ombusman.org;
www.ec.europa.eu;
www.ncw.nic.in