Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Law & Justice

16-March-2017 17:11 IST

The Government of India has emphasised the need for promoting arbitration as a preferred dispute resolution mechanism for commercial disputes. Pursuant to this, a High Level Committee has been constituted under the Chairmanship of Mr. Justice B N Srikrishna, Retired Judge, Supreme Court on 29^th December 2016 to review the institutionalisation of arbitration mechanism in India and submit a report.

The Committee has prepared a Working Paper, which is available on the website of the Ministry of Law and Justice at http://legalaffairs.gov.in/admin3

The Working Paper seeks to ask some important questions as to how to make India as a hub for institutional arbitration. The Paper also attempts to review why several existing arbitral institutions in India are not functioning effectively. For this purpose, the Committee has prepared two questionnaires addressed to (a) arbitral institutions in India; and (b) stakeholders in arbitration such as parties, their in-house counsel, lawyers and arbitrators. The questionnaires constitute Annexures 1 and 2 to the Paper.

Further, the Paper studies some of the most popular arbitral institutions worldwide in order to identify international best practices. On this basis, the paper identifies areas for reform in the Indian arbitration landscape.

The Committee invites public comments on suggestions made in this Working Paper as well as any other suggestions on strengthening institutional arbitration in India. All responses should be limited to 25 typed pages. The comments may be submitted by email to [email protected] on or before 7^th April 2017.

Further, all existing arbitral institutions in India are requested to complete the questionnaire annexed as Annexure 1 to this Working Paper and email the completed questionnaire to [email protected] on or before 7^th April 2017. Alternatively, the questionnaire can be filled as a Google form at this link -

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeI-7n4DMChhsVzMh9NZIgYu20fww22lt5-8mwJbA3aZbz6Mg/viewform?usp=sf_link

All parties, in-house counsel, lawyers and arbitrators are requested to complete the questionnaire annexed as Annexure 2 to this Working Paper and email the completed questionnaire to [email protected] on or before 7 April 2017. Alternatively, the questionnaire can be filled as a Google form at this link –

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdOP2TquwPKF-6M7ZPjy1LlOnMQPawTu3fU71fk4UeSFFLQhQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

NNK/MD

 

Institutional arbitration reforms: comments invited on Working Paper to strengthen institutional mechanisms and complete stakeholder questionnaires. The High Level Committee seeking to review institutional arbitration invites public comments on its Working Paper and requests completion of two annexed questionnaires-one for existing arbitral institutions and one for stakeholders (parties, in-house counsel, lawyers, arbitrators). Responses must comply with a prescribed page limit and be submitted by the stated deadline via the designated email address or through the online Google form links to inform the Committee's assessment of institutional effectiveness and reform options.