After successful completion of the Phase-I Mediation Training equipping the Family Court Judges of all the Districts of U.P. in Mediation skills, the Mediation Training has now entered in its Second Phase.
The High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, under the guidance of Justice Pritinker Diwaker, Chief Justice, has organized a two-day Phase-II training programme on the Mediation Techniques for the Family Court Judges of Uttar Pradesh, under the aegis of The Allahabad High Court Committee for ‘Sensitization of Family Court Matters’, Chaired by Justice Sangeeta Chandra, Judge, Allahabad High Court, in association with ‘The committee for Mediation and Conciliation Centre at Allahabad, on 14.10.2023 and 15.10.2023, at the Circuit House, Gorakhpur.
The Training Programme was inaugurated by Justice Manish Kumar Nigam, Member, Committee for Sensitization of Family Court Matters, by lightning of lamp and seeking blessings of the almighty. The District Judge, Gorakhpur, Sri Tej Pratap Tiwari also attended the inaugural session and extended a warm welcome to all the participants and master mediation trainers.
The Focus of the training programme was on the applicative techniques of Mediation for settling the Family disputes through mediation. Around 51 Family Court Judges of Gorakhpur-Varanasi cluster i.e. Ambedkarnagar at Akbarpur, Balrampur, Barabanki, Basti, Faizabad, Gonda, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar at Padrauna, Maharajganj, Sant Kabir Nagar, Siddarth Nagar, Sultanpur, Azamgarh, Ballia, Bhadohi at Gyanpur, Chandauli, Deoria, Ghazipur, Jaunpur, Mau, Mirzapur, Pratapgarh, Sonbhadra and Varanasi attended the Phase-II of the Mediation Training Programme at Gorakhpur.
In the inaugural session, Justice Manish Kumar Nigam wished all the very best to all the participants for second phase of mediation training after successfully completing the very productive training session of first phase. He highlighted the importance of such training of Family Court Judges stating that contentions presented before Family Court are, in essence, not genuine disputes in the strictest sense, they are often stem from emotional strain, inherent ego conflicts and in the absence of codified directives outlining the delineation of rights and responsibilities, the paramount endeavour in such cases should be the preservation and sustenance of family harmony.
Justice Manish Kumar Nigam reminded the responsibility of the Family Court Judges emphasizing that in the past mutual assistance and cooperation were the norm within the framework of the extended joint families but the contemporary trend towards the smaller nuclear families has endangered an environment wherein the conflicts have increased its frequency and with this evolving familial landscape we engage in the provision of pertinent training.
The resource persons for the workshop were expert Mediation Trainers of the Mediation and Conciliation Project Committee (M.C.P.C.), Supreme Court namely, Sri Anoop Kumar Srivastava, Sri Niraj Upadhyay, Smt. Rajlakshmi Sinha and Sri Sandeep Saxena. They focused on providing a panoramic outlook on the importance of tools of Mediation in resolving Family Disputes. The training will go a long way in enhancing mediation skills of the participating Family Court Judges.
The two day workshop consisted of wide range of applicative techniques to enhance the Mediation Skills with wide arena of topics such as Understanding the Psychology of the Parties and Controlling their Emotions, Communication skills, Management Strategies of Impasse, Option Generation Strategies, Professional ethics etc. Through interactive sessions, role-plays and screening of relevant video clippings the sessions were made more interesting. The workshop aimed at enhancing the mediation skills of the Family Court Judges in dealing with matters of family disputes in the long run.
The Valedictory Session of the training program was conducted in the august presence of Justice Sangeeta Chandra, Chairperson of the Committee for Sensitization of Family Court Matters. In her address, Justice Sangeeta Chandra while expressing her satisfaction and happiness on training program has emphasized that owing to the variances within the familial milieu, post nuptial adaptation often poses formidable challenges especially in arrange marriage and if left unresolved, often spill into the public sphere leading to polarized opinions rather than conflict resolution.
In this context, Justice Sangeeta Chandra called upon Family Court Judges to uphold the principles of empathy and impartiality when addressing such cases, promoting amicable solutions through negotiation and communications while respecting individual interests.
Justice Sangeeta Chandra was optimistic that Phase Two training will equip the Family Court Judges with the skills needed to navigate the intricacies of mediation encountered during Phase one.
Certificates were distributed to the participating family court Judges by the Justice Sangeeta Chandra.
Shri Tej Pratap Tiwari, District Judge, Gorakhpur extented his heartfelt gratitude to Justice Sangeeta Chandra and Justice Manish Kumar Nigam for their valuable time and guidance. He expressed his appreciation to all the Mediation Trainers and Participants and the team of Judicial Officers of Gorakhpur Judgeship and staff from Hon’ble High Court, Allahabad, who made all possible efforts to make this program successful.
