Centre establishes Mediation Council of India Under 2023 Law; Head office to be located in Delhi

The Ministry of Law and Justice, Department of Legal Affairs, issued a notification on Friday announcing the establishment of the Council. The notification has been published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, under Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (ii).

The notification has been issued by the Central Government under sub-section (1) of Section 31 of the Mediation Act, 2023 (32 of 2023).

It states that the Central Government, while exercising the powers given to it under the provision, "hereby establishes a Council for the said Act". The body will be known as the Mediation Council of India.

The notification also specifies that the head office of the Council will be located in Delhi.

The notification is relatively brief and deals specifically with the formal establishment of the Council. It does not, in this notification, provide details about the names of the members who will constitute the Council, its office-bearers, or the date on which its day-to-day operations will begin.

The Gazette also does not set out any separate rules or procedures governing the Council's functioning. It simply records the Central Government's decision to establish the statutory body for the Mediation Act, 2023.

The establishment of the Council represents a formal institutional step under the 2023 legislation. The Mediation Act provides for the creation of a Mediation Council, and the latest notification gives effect to the provision by formally setting up the body. The move provides a designated statutory institution for the Act, with Delhi specified as its headquarters.

However, based strictly on the Gazette notification, further details about the Council's composition, appointments and functioning are not contained in the present order. Such details, if notified separately, would have to be examined from the relevant government notifications or other official documents. (ANI)