Indian Arbitration System

Published: 3rd May, 2024

Context

Vice President (VP) of India JagdeepDhankhar underlined the need for reforming the Indian arbitration system.

What is Alternative Dispute Resolution?

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) includes various methods of settling a dispute without getting into the intricacies of the court.
It is a method where parties try to resolve their disputes privately in front of a third-person expert.
The decision is binding on the parties like the decision of the court.
Type of ADR process: Arbitration, Mediation, negotiation, and conciliation
Arbitration:
- It is a quasi-judicial proceeding.
- In this form of dispute resolution, the parties decide the rules of the process and appoint their own judge (referred to as the ‘arbitrator’), who decides the matter between the parties
- The decision of the Arbitral Tribunal is referred to as an “Award”and has the same effect as that of an order of the court.
- Arbitration in India is governed by the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.
Issues in the system: Complex, an additional tier in the conventional litigation ladder, lack of trust, inefficiency.

Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.

This act gives the provisions for
- International Commercial arbitration
- domestic arbitration
- enforcement of foreign Arbitral awards
It is based on the UN model law so as to equate with the law adopted by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).
The Act has been amended in 2015, 2019 and 2021

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