Panel submits report on promoting arbitration in India

A panel set up to suggest changes in arbitration law has proposed formation of a promotion council and a dedicated band of lawyers to contest such cases, Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said today.
The committee headed by former Supreme Court judge B N Srikrishna had also lamented that the International Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ICDAR) in Delhi had only conducted "22 arbitrations in 23 years".
"The government gave money and land. But only 22 arbitration cases have been decided by the centre," the Union Law Minister told reporters.
The committee which submitted its recommendations to the law ministry has proposed that the centre (ICDAR) be given a statute and revamped to keep up with present times.

It has also recommended appointment of an international law adviser to the government who will coordinate dispute resolution strategy for the Centre in disputes arising out of its international law obligations.
The government in December last set up the committee to recommend ways to make arbitration more efficient as it seeks to make the country a hub of international arbitration and to accelerate the system of alternate dispute resolution.
"In order to ensure speedy resolution of commercial disputes and to facilitate effective conduct of international and domestic arbitrations raised under various agreements, it has been considered necessary to go into various factors to accelerate arbitration mechanism and strengthen the arbitration ecosystem in the country," Prasad had said then.