India International Arbitration Centre (‘IIAC’) organized an International Arbitration Dialogues on 22-08-2023 powered by Alvarez & Marsal and EBC and SCC Online were the broadcast, publication and Media Partners.
The programme marked the presence of Justice Vibhu Bakhru, Judge, Delhi High Court; Justice Sachin Datta, Judge, Delhi High Court; Professor Doug Jones; Professor Janet Walker; Advocate Shashank Garg, and Gaganpreet Puri, Leader —Risk and Regulatory, Alvarez & Marsal.
The programme commenced with a welcome address by Mr. Gaganpreet Puri, Leader —Risk and Regulatory, Alvarez & Marsal.
The panel discussion was moderated by Mr Shashank Garg on ‘Due Process Paranoia’ in Arbitration.
Justice Vibhu Bakhru, Judge, Delhi High Court on the question on the concept of due process when it comes to justice delivery system, said that “due process is a genesis about rule of law. There should be fairness, there should be rule of law. When it comes to dispute resolution, the larger challenge is that there is no statute”. Justice Bakhru also said that the due process is a procedure, a system that embodies justice. One cannot give an exhaustive definition to it.
He further said that if there is robust due process in place, we will have less paranoia and hence, it’s the paranoia that needs to be addressed.
On the question relating to training of arbitrators, Justice Bakhru said that “training surely will help, but we need the bandwidth to run this”.
Concerning due process paranoia, Professor Doug Jones said that Courts had a limited involvement in arbitration. The reason is that in many jurisdictions, the judges have taken a view that the arbitrator must take the process with which they are familiar. The duty of an Arbitrator is to produce an award which is enforceable at the place of arbitration.
Further, he said that “arbitration can be flexible as to the need of the issue”.
Professor Janet Walker said that “there are many kinds of approaches to arbitration around the world”. As per her one of the most common features of paranoia is late filing of submissions, producing incomplete documents.
Justice Sachin Datta, Judge, Delhi High Court focused on converting the due process into absolute process, as sometimes due process requests can have a disruptive effect on arbitration.
Concerning the question on what Tribunals should keep in mind to follow due process, Justice Datta said that “Tribunals must maintain absolute transparency, they must be both proactive and interactive”.
The event ended with a vote of thanks by Mr. Gaganpreet Puri.
