London [UK], June 7 : Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud has said that now is the time for countries such as India to focus on building a strong culture of commercial arbitration.
Delivering his address at the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom on Thursday evening, CJI highlighted the evolution of arbitration from a supplementary dispute resolution mechanism to a primary choice for commercial entities worldwide.
He added that setting up effective arbitration institutions can boost its practice in the Global South.
"I firmly believe that now is the time for countries such as India to step up to the occasion to create and promote a culture of commercial arbitration. The robust institutionalisation of arbitration will further the culture of arbitration in the Global South," said CJI.
CJI Chandrachud delivered his speech in the presence of the President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, Lord Reed, Deputy President, Lord Hodgeand other judges of the UK Supreme Court.
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He said in recent years, institutions such as the India International Arbitration Centre and Mumbai and Delhi International Arbitration Centers have been set up and are seeing a steady flow of arbitration matters, however, mere creation of institutions is not sufficient.
"We have to ensure that these new institutions are not controlled by a self-perpetrating clique. These institutions must be based on the foundation of robust professionalism and the ability to generate consistent arbitral processes. Transparency and accountability, values by which the work of conventional courts is assessed and critiqued, cannot be alien to the world of arbitration... I hope the Indian arbitral institutions emulate the success of their global counterparts in the years to come. The substitution of courts should not result in the creation of opaque structures," said the CJI.
CJI called for more diversity in the world of arbitration, whether in terms of gender or in terms of having more representatives from the Global South, to make it a broad-based process.
"The plea for bringing greater diversity in the world of arbitration is based on the firm belief that bringing a diversity of viewpoint to the world of arbitration, whether in terms of gender or from the Global South will make for a broad-based process," he added.
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CJI Chandrachud was delivering the speech on "Law and Practice of commercial arbitration: Shared understandings and developments in UK and India."
CJI further said that the law of international commercial arbitration is an amalgam of the diversity of legal cultures and practices.
Although the core of arbitration law could be traced to the traditions of common law and civil law, it is infused with new legal ideas and innovations every day, he said.
"Courts in the Global South such as the Supreme Court of India are trying their best to make arbitration law more efficiency-oriented. We continually draw from comparative law. Our sights travel beyond borders to sustain India's place in the emerging world. The next step is to draw out more people from the Global South to act as counsel and commercial arbitrators. Steps are being taken with the creation of the Arbitration Bar of India... The future of arbitration is already here. It is now our responsibility to live up to the emerging challenges," said the CJI.
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