Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant on Friday, 31 July 2026, made a forceful case for embedding mediation at the heart of India's justice delivery system, declaring that 'peace is not the absence of law; peace is one of law's finest achievements.' Speaking at the inauguration of the Commonwealth Peace Mediation Conference 2026 in Jaipur, the Chief Justice called on legal professionals across the Commonwealth to treat mediation not as a fallback option but as a foundational pillar of the rule of law.

Key Remarks from the Chief Justice

Justice Surya Kant challenged what he described as a centuries-old assumption — that courts alone embody the rule of law, while peace belongs to informal compromise. 'This conference seeks to correct that old assumption,' he said. 'Courts provide certainty and precedent, while mediation gives people the opportunity to write their own ending before the final word ever becomes necessary.'

Drawing on Jaipur's historic urban planning, the Chief Justice noted that the Pink City was designed on principles of harmony and proportion, making it, in his view, a fitting host for a conference on mediation. 'Mediation too teaches us that no single voice, however powerful, should be allowed to overwhelm another,' he remarked.

Roots in India's Village Tradition

Sharing a personal recollection from his childhood in rural Haryana, Justice Surya Kant drew a direct line between modern mediation practice and the traditional Panchayat system. He recalled that when two families quarrelled over a boundary wall, a water channel, or a pathway, they would sit with village elders under a tree until the matter was resolved. 'Nobody called it Alternative Dispute Resolution then. We simply called it Panchayat. It was mediation before the word became fashionable,' he said.

He argued that the durability of those settlements came from a social reality: the parties had to continue living as neighbours. 'The true test of peace is not whether an agreement has been signed on paper. It is whether neighbours can still share a cup of tea the next morning.'

A Word of Caution on AI and Online Mediation

Acknowledging the expanding role of technology in dispute resolution, the Chief Justice welcomed Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) but sounded a note of caution on over-reliance on artificial intelligence. 'AI may carry a human voice, but it cannot display human empathy or genuine apology,' he said, adding that online mediation should continue to be conducted predominantly by trained human mediators.

The Jaipur Declaration on Peace Mediation

Justice Surya Kant expressed hope that the conference's proposed Jaipur Declaration on Peace Mediation would serve as a practical working document rather than a ceremonial one. 'Let it be a working promise that a young lawyer in Lagos, a mediator in Colombo or a judge in Toronto can rely upon when people are searching for a peaceful way forward,' he said.

The three-day conference has brought together judges, legal experts, mediators, policymakers, and representatives from Commonwealth nations to deliberate on strengthening mediation frameworks, promoting the rule of law, and improving access to justice. The outcome of the Jaipur Declaration is expected to shape mediation policy across member states in the months ahead.