Steps involved in conciliation process

Step 1: Commencement of conciliation proceedings.

 Section 62 of the act talks about the commencement of the proceedings. In order for
the conciliation proceedings either one of the parties should send a written
invitation to the other party. Only if the other party accepts the invitation they shall
go ahead with the conciliation proceedings. If the party does not get a reply even
after 30 days of sending the invitation, it shall be considered that the invitation is
not accepted.

Step 2: Appointment of conciliators

 After the parties have agreed for the conciliation proceedings, the next step is to
appoint an arbitrator. Section 64 talks about the appointment of arbitrators. If the
parties agree they can appoint a sole conciliator. If the parties agree upon
appointing two conciliators, each party shall appoint one conciliator each. In case
the parties agree upon three conciliator, each party shall appoint one conciliator
each and the parties together may agree upon a third conciliator, who shall be the
presiding conciliator.

Step 3: Submission of written statement to the conciliator

 The conciliator may request each of the parties to provide with a written statement
about the facts relating to the case in hand. It is necessary for both the parties to
submit a written statement to the conciliator. Along with the conciliator, the parties
are also requested to send the written statement to each other.

Step 4: Conduct of the conciliation proceedings

 Sections 67(3) and 69(1) talks about the conduct of conciliation proceedings. The
conciliator may decide to talk to the parties through written or oral communication.
He may also decide to meet the parties together or separately. He may conduct the
proceedings which seem to be suitable to the case in hand.

Step 5: Administration assistance

 Section 68 of the act talks about the administrative assistance. The parties or the
conciliator may seek administrative assistance from an institution or a person if
required. In order for seeking for administrative assistance, the consent of the
parties are required.
Conciliator - Appointment and qualifications

Conciliator can be appointed by the parties themselves of their own choice with consensus
i.e. both should agree upon the appointment of the conciliator. IDRC has a Panel of
Conciliators with rich experience in varied fields.

The parties follow any of the following methods.

(a) The parties themselves may name a conciliator or conciliators from IDRC Panel.
(b) Each party may appoint one conciliator from IDRC Panel & may mutually agree on the
third conciliator.
(c) The parties may enlist the assistance of a suitable institution ie IDRC in connection
with the appointment of conciliators.

In the case of family court, or labour court etc, before referring the matter to the court it is
compulsory to consult with the councilor i.e. conciliator, who are appointed by the
government for making settlement between the parties before the trial & on the report of
the councilor only, matter is put forth for trial.

Here, Conciliator should not be of a specific qualification, but he should also not be
ignorant of the subject matter. He can be a expert person of the subject matter of dispute
for e.g. if there is a dispute regarding construction cost of a building in that case a person
can be a civil engineer, who has the knowledge of building construction. The important
thing, which cannot be ignored, is that conciliation is not the person who will decide the
matter; rather he is a person who assists the parties to arrive at amicable settlement, where
the decision is of the parties themselves.