Topic- India: Changing face of Dispute Resolution in the new economic powerhouse
Speakers
Mr. Nick Panes – HKA
Mr. Vivek Kapoor – 39 Essex Chambers
Justice BR Gavai, Judge, Supreme Court of India
Mr. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General, Supreme Court of India
Advocate Shashank Garg
Justice Alison Foster – Judge of the High Court of England and Wales
Mr. Kevin Nash – Registrar of SIAC (Moderator)
HKA and 39 Essex Chambers hosted the session on ‘India: Changing face of Dispute Resolution in the new economic powerhouse’ at the International Dispute Resolution Centre, as a part of the London International Disputes Week (LIDW) 2024.
Justice Alison Foster, Judge, High Court of England and Wales shared her valuable insights on key points about laws. She said that the laws should be prospective, promulgated in advance consistent with one another, stability over the period of time and should not be arbitrary. While discussing different facets of Dispute Resolution she stated that International Arbitration is one of the most effective means of Dispute Resolution.
Mr. Kevin Nash, Registrar of SIAC who was the moderator for the session, while sharing his views said that Ad-Hoc Arbitration is not cost effective than Institutional Arbitration and also that now Indian seated Arbitration is seen more.
Mr. Nick Panes talked about elections across the world and the most interesting election results of India.
Advocate Shashank Garg expressed his views on the Arbitration Bar of India which was an initiative led by the Attorney General of India Mr. R. Venkataramani. He said that under the leadership of Solicitor General of India, ABI was set up to fill up the gap of soft laws. He also suggested that if there is any Arbitration where the government entity wishes to go for review or curative petition, the certificate is only to be given by Attorney General or Solicitor General of India.
Mr. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General of India expressed his views on the question of strengthening of rule of law in India and said rule of law has been engrained in the Constitution of India and every citizen is empowered to directly approach the Constitutional Courts of the country. With respect to Arbitration, he said that architecture of Arbitration Act, 1996 and rule of law is an essential element to be followed. Further, he added that arbitration by its nature is party driven and one of the arbitrators can be selected by the Government. The presiding Arbitrator is selected by both parties and the Government and so, the Government cannot be said to have an upper hand.
He also said that while dealing with applications under Section 34 of the Act, the award should be seen as an award irrespective of the arbitrators involved in the same.
He agreed with Mr. Shashank Garg and said that DMRC judgment is a sui generis judgment and should not be taken as an example for International Arbitration.
