FICCI : Industry's Voice for Policy Change

Chief justice of India S A Bobde has stressed on the need to have a comprehensive law on making pre-litigation mediation mandatory. He said it would ensure efficiency and reduce the time of pendency for parties as well as courts.

Speaking at the third International Conference organised by the Indian Council of Arbitration (ICA ) and Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) yesterday, Justice Bobde said the time is ripe to devise such a law.

The Chief Justice of India said, though arbitration is the most preferred mode of privately resolving a big range of disputes today, it is done at the cost of mediation and conciliation which is faster and less expensive. He said, arbitration and mediation are deeply embedded in dispute resolution mechanisms in India's commercial practices and social life.

The Sentinel | Feb 09, 2020

CJI SA Bobde presses for the formation of AI-based arbitration bars

Chief Justice of India Sharad Arvind Bobde on Saturday asserted that there is huge ignorance about the arbitration system in India and pressed for the need for the formation of arbitration bars.

Arbitration is a technique to resolve disputes outside the court, by referring them to a neutral party for a binding decision.

“Arbitration plays an essential role in the global infrastructure of international trade, commerce, and investment. The presence of arbitration bars is imperative. There is, however, ignorance about arbitration and only few people resort to it,” CJI Bobde.

The Chief Justice said that institutional arbitration has met with “little success in India”.

Citing Justice BN Srikrishna committee report, Justice Bobde said that the lack of credible arbitral institutions, governmental support, specialist arbitration bars, misconception about institutional arbitration and judicial attitude are the reasons why it has not been able to set foot in the country.

“A robust arbitration bar is critical to the development of institutional arbitration in India as it would ensure availability and accessibility of the practitioner with knowledge and experience in the field,” he added.

He said that artificial intelligence (AI) could provide immense benefit for arbitration process and its users.

“AI-based analytics systems could be used to predict cost, duration and possible resolution, including proposing range of settlements based on analysis of previous arbitration of similar size and complexities,” CJI Bobde said.

He further rued that arbitration system is replicating the judicial system.

“Arbitration was meant to be a simple process which it has ceased to be. It is not supposed to mirror litigation,” he said.

The Times of India | Feb 09, 2020

Artificial Intelligence could help in arbitration in globalised era, says CJI

A fortnight after making it public that judiciary is exploring use of artificial intelligence to speed up justice delivery, Chief Justice S A Bobde on Saturday said traditional methods of arbitration in India could be augmented by use of AI to achieve international standards.

Speaking at an International Conference on ‘Arbitration in the Era of Globalisation’, organised by Indian Council of Arbitration and FICCI, the CJI said, “As we conceptualise international arbitration in a globalised era, we must also be cognisant of the synergistic opportunities available for international arbitration through utilisation of disruptive technologies.”

“Artificial Intelligence could provide immense benefits for the arbitration process and its users. By augmenting human cognitive abilities, AI powered services could assist lawyers in drafting, identification of better authorities, reviewing documents etc. It is also well placed to assist arbitral tribunals in preparation of award, simultaneous judicial review, streamlining case management etc. AI-based analytics system could be used to predict costs, duration and possible resolution including proposing a range of settlement based on analysis of previous arbitrations of similar size and complexity. AI-assisted arbitration holds immense promise for the arbitration community,” he said.

On January 24, CJI Bobde had said he was looking to employ AI, which reads one million characters per second, in judiciary to help judges get gist of voluminous petitions quickly and propel the pace of case disposal.

Hindustan Times | Feb 09, 2020

'Devise law to make mediation agreements binding': CJI SA Bobde

Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobdeon Saturday called for the introduction of a law to ensure that all settlements arrived at in mediation proceedings are binding, and spoke in favour of compulsory pre-litigation mediation to reduce the backlog of cases in courts and save the time of both the courts and litigants.

The CJI was speaking at the third edition of the international conference on Arbitration in the Era of Globalisation, organised by the Indian Council of Arbitration and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

“I think the time is ripe to devise a comprehensive legislation which contains compulsory pre-litigation mediation and a remedy for the biggest drawback in a mediation agreement, that is to say the un-enforceability of an agreement arrived at a mediation, would ensure efficiency and also reduce the time pendency for parties as well as the courts. Maybe if some method could be found for certifying that an agreement has been freely entered into and for making it executable like a degree, mediation could become the most effective ADR (alternative dispute resolution),” he said.

Mediation is an alternative method for resolving disputes between persons without resorting to the courts. In mediation proceedings, a mediator who is a neutral third-party facilitates a dialogue between the two sides in a dispute and works with them to help arrive at a settlement.

However, there is no law regulating mediation in India, and the agreement arrived at after mediation is non-binding. Disputes are many times taken to the courts even after mediation, resulting in loss of significant time in mediation without any fruitful outcome.

The CJI also spoke about the importance of arbitration, calling it the most preferred mode of privately resolving disputes between parties.

“Today, arbitration plays an essential role in the global infrastructure of international trade, commerce and investment. As an integral member of the global community and a trading and investment giant, how India engages with international arbitration has important ramifications on international trans-boundary flows of trade, commerce and investments as a whole.”

He, however, noted that institutional arbitration has met with limited success in India and a robust bar dedicated to arbitration is critical for the development of institutional arbitration.

“..it is clear that for institutional arbitration to expand its footprint in India, it would require concerted support from all stakeholders, in particular members of the legal profession. A robust arbitration bar is critical to the development of institutional arbitration in India as it would ensure availability and accessibility of practitioners with knowledge and experience in the field of arbitration”, the CJI said.

Institutional arbitration is when an institution specialising in arbitration takes over the dispute and administers the arbitration proceedings between parties.

The problem, Bobde said, was that ADR mechanisms such as arbitration and mediation were seen as secondary options and unless that mindset changes, steps to reform and promote such mechanisms will remain ineffective.

The CJI also called for efforts to explore the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in arbitration, stating that AI-assisted arbitration holds immense promise for the arbitration community.

Hindustan Times | Feb 09, 2020

CJI calls for law binding on mediation to reduce backlog