Chief Guest Justice AK Sikri lauded IICA contribution in strengthening arbitration ecosystem in India

IICA’s arbitration Program “as a big game-changer” says Dr Rajiv Mani, Secretary, Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice

The Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) under Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Govt of India recently organised the Inaugural Session of the second batch of the IICA Certified Arbitration Program (ICAP) virtually by the Centre of Excellence in Alternative Dispute Resolution (CEADR).

The program is a flagship initiative of IICA aligned to the mandate of creating soft infrastructure for Viksit Bharat@2047 through education, training, research, advocacy and advisory on contemporary issues. The ICAP aims to create a pool of next-generation, globally benchmarked arbitration professionals in India. 

In his Inaugural Address, Shri Gyaneshwar Kumar Singh, Director-General & CEO, IICA, shared statistics and studies conducted in arbitration and emphasized that the need of the hour is to standardize the arbitration landscape through institutional arbitration in India. Shri Singh stressed on enforceability of arbitral awards, ensuring fairness of process, code of conduct and creating a diverse pool of arbitration experts with sectoral indepth competencies for a holistic arbitration ecosystem.

He placed on record the commitment of IICA in creating a robust ADR ecosystem in India through flagship education courses, customised training programmes, policy research, creating and maintaining a database of ADR professionals and arbitral awards, advocacy to sensitise the stakeholders to the benefits of ADR, particularly arbitration and other relevant initiatives. 

In his Special Address, Guest of Honour, Dr Rajiv Mani, Secretary, Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice  emphasized on various government initiatives for India to emerge as a global hub of arbitration. While emphasizing the need for specialized institutions to train arbitrators and arbitration practitioners in India, Dr Mani referred to IICA’s Certified Arbitration Program “as a big game-changer” in the domain.

Dr Mani also mentioned various studies undertaken by the government for effective implementation of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 through further legislative amendments. In light of India’s economic growth, he emphasized creating a robust alternative dispute resolution system and enforcement of arbitral awards for gaining investor confidence in India. To strengthen the institutional arbitration regime in India, Dr Mani also indicated the government’s endeavour to establish the Arbitration Council of India soon.

Delivering the Keynote Address, Chief Guest, Hon’ble Justice AK Sikri, lauded the efforts of IICA in contributing towards strengthening the arbitration ecosystem in India by referring to the IICA Certified Arbitration Program as “really a very commendable step”. While lauding the virtual inaugural ceremony, Justice Sikri compared it to growing importance of online arbitrations stating that, “In the years since the pandemic, virtual and hybrid hearings have moved from being an emergency improvisation to a settled feature of arbitral practice, in India and internationally.” Justice Sikri also highlighted the importance of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, particularly arbitration, by observing that, “No judiciary in the world, however brilliant, can resolve disputes in a modern commercial economy through litigation alone.” While referring to arbitration as “a load bearing wall of commercial dispute resolution in every advanced economy”, he observed that arbitration is no longer a fashionable or lucrative alternative, it has now become a structural necessity in the dispute resolution regime across the world.

Prof (Dr) Naveen Sirohi, Program Director & Head, Centre of Excellence in Alternative Dispute Resolution, IICA shared the cohort profile highlighting that it comprises 81 delegates bringing together a highly distinguished multidisciplinary blend of law, finance, engineering, corporate and public sector expertise with 20+ years of average delegate experience. Prof Sirohi said that the heterogenous group of delegates with vast experience offers advantage of holistic competencies development for the Indian arbitration ecosystem.

The program concluded with the Vote of Thanks proposed by the Chief Programme Executive, CEADR, IICA.

IICA Certified Arbitration Program (ICAP) is India’s gold standard in arbitration training. Based on the feedback from the founding batch, the second batch has been upgraded to include 250+ hours of comprehensive and practical content across 20+ modules delivered by a pool of global experts over a period of 9 months. There are two campus immersions with focus on arbitral award writing in workshop mode.