인도의 분쟁해결문화와 ADR제도: Panchayat와 Lok Adalat을 중심으로

Indian Dispute Resolution Culture and ADR Institutions in the Perspective of Panchayat and Lok adalat

There are diverse kinds of alternative dispute resolution systems in India. In the structure of society in Ancient India, the panchayat system was the creation of the villagers themselves and was composed of persons who were generally respected and to whose decisions the villagers were accustomed to give unreserved obedience. The ruler of the province allowed the villagers to govern themselves and the villagers assumed the responsibility for the settlement of disputes among themselves. However, the panchayat system has been heavily influenced by the structure of the village at hand, which depends on the caste system in India. This study categorizes the village dispute resolution structure into four main types depending on the extent of the caste group’s dominance within the village. In addition, the Indian government created Lok Adalat which combines the indigenous dispute resolution with modern law system. Today, Lok Adalat is one of the widely used dispute resolution systems in India.