New Delhi: In a bid to fast track dispute resolution process in the country, government’s think-tank Niti Aayog will host a global arbitration meet which will see participation from leading international arbitral institutions.
The three-day conference will be inaugurated on October 21 by President Pranab Mukherjee, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be delivering the valedictory address, Niti Aayog said in a statement.
The conference seeks to provide impetus to commercial arbitration in India, which is fast gaining pace across the world, for faster, more efficient dispute resolution outside the court room, it added.
Niti Aayog, Law Ministry, National Legal Services Authority, International Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution and National Institute of Labour Economics Research and Development have collaborated to make India the centre of arbitration, the statement said.
Also, for the first time, six leading global arbitral institutions (HKIAC, ICC, KLRCA, LCIA, PCA and SIAC) and all major industry associations (FICCI, PHD Chamber, CII and Assocham) have come together to drive this initiative, it added.
The conference has been guided by Chief Justice of India T S Thakur and will also be addressed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, it said.
“Chief Justices of six countries are participating at the first ever Global Conference on Arbitration in India and share their thoughts. Distinguished jurist Fali Nariman and William Rowley, QC, Chairman, LCIA Board are amongst the keynote speakers,” it added.
The conference will serve as a platform for discussing critical issues, sharing experiences on the best international practices and creating a roadmap to strengthen arbitration and its enforcement in the country.
Explaining the rationale behind promoting arbitration, the Aayog said few entities, within and outside of the legal system, are alien to the immense losses suffered by business enterprises due to enormous backlogs involved in dispute resolution in Indian courts.
“This keep resources and money of the businesses trapped till resolution of the dispute. This is a major disincentive for foreign companies coming to invest in India. So they seek alternatives. One such alternative is arbitration which can be cost effective and quick,” it added.
Increasingly, foreign companies that partner with Indian businesses are approaching countries outside of India for dispute resolution.
Many Indian companies are going to foreign arbitration centres like Singapore, London and Paris, taking a huge chunk of dispute resolution business outside India.
“Statistics make this picture clear. In 2012, 49 of the total 235 cases in Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) involved an Indian party. This figure grew to 85 out of 259 cases in 2013,” it added.
PTI