Union Government on 29
th Dec 2016 constituted a High Level Committee to review institutionalization of Arbitration Mechanism of India.
The committee has been constituted by the Ministry of Law and Justice.
It will be chaired by Justice BN Srikrishna, retired SC judge.
Secretary, Department of Legal Affairs will be member secretary of the committee.
The Committee will have to submit its report within a period of 90 days.
Terms of reference of the committee are:- Review and analysis of the effectiveness of existing arbitration mechanisms.
- Review the resources, facilities, funding and manpower of current ADR institutions.
- Review working of the institutions that is funded by the Union government for arbitration purposes.
- It will also assess skill gaps in ADR and allied institutions for national and international arbitration.
- It will evaluate information outreach and efficacy of the legal framework for arbitration at is currently existing.
The committee will also suggest measures for the institutionalization of arbitration mechanism, national and international in India, to make the country a hub of international commercial arbitration.
To encourage the International Commercial Arbitration, it will identify required amendments in other laws that are needed.
It will also formulate an action plan for law implementation to ensure speedier arbitrations.
It will also recommend revision of institutional rules and regulations and their funding support.
Advice on empanelment of international and national arbitrators for time bound arbitral proceedings will be given by the committee.
It will also put forth a roadmap for R&D.
It will also enlist the steps needed for augmenting skill sets and professional manpower buildup for the sector. It will also recommend measures required to make arbitration widely available in curricula and study materials.
The committee will focus on the role played by arbitration in matters involving the State such as the bilateral investment treaties arbitrations and make recommendations when required.
It will also evolve an effective arbitration ecosystem to expedite resolution of international and domestic disputes of a commercial nature.
Other Members of the Committee- Justice RV Raveendran, Retired Judge, Supreme Court
- Justice S Ravindra Bhat, Judge, Delhi High Court
- KK Venugopal, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court
- PS Narasimha, Addl Solicitor General of India
- Indu Malhotra, Senior Counsel, Supreme Court
- Araghya Sengupta, Director, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy
- Representative of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)
- Representative of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)
This committee was formed in line with the Arbitration and Conciliation Amendment Act 2015 passed by the Parliament in Dec 2016.
Committee was founded based on stress on the Justice Dispensing System of India and a huge pendency of cases in numerous courts.
Arbitration offers alternative dispute resolution.
