ABSTRACT
Mediation is an old form of dispute resolution process. It has been practised for centuries in Africa, China, and the Far East and now, recently, in the western world. The Hindu villages of India which have traditionally engaged the panchayat justice system. The role of an arbitrator is to consider the issues and then to make a decision which determines the issues. The Mediation Training Course Handbook of the Centre for Excellence in Dispute Resolution (CEDR) lists as cornerstone principles which delimit a mediator's responsibilities. A rights-based mediation occurs where the parties to a dispute want a neutral third party to provide them with an independent assessment of the likely outcome of the case. A caucus is a deliberate pause in the mediation, at the instance of the mediator, with a view to the mediator meeting privately with each party or combination of parties. Mediation practitioners point to a number of advantages which the mediation process has over litigation.
