ARBITRATION PANEL WANTS FOREIGN LAWYERS RECOGNISED
NEWDELHI: A high-powered committee has recommended sweeping changes to the arbitration regime in India, including laws to allow foreign lawyers to represent clients in international proceedings held in India. The panel, headed by Justice BN Srikrishna, submitted its report to the law ministry last week.
The move could trigger another backlash from the bar which remains strongly opposed to the idea of allowing foreign law firms or lawyers to practise in the country.
Bar associations and councils in different states, led by the Bar Council of India (BCI), went on strike in April this year and burnt copies of a Law Commission report that suggested diluting the powers of the BCI over disciplinary matters concerning advocates.
Last year, the BCI had walked out of deliberations started by the government to allow entry to foreign law firms. The report was submitted to law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad last Thursday.
While the government has refrained from taking immediate action on it since Parliament is in session, Prasad described it as a “very good report”. While he refused to comment on the recommendations, the minister said the government will take a considered and “structured view”.
The move to revamp the arbitration framework in India is a focus area for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who wants India to become an international arbitration hub in place of Singapore.
The government wants arbitration to become the first resort of dispute resolution to clear the backlog of cases -- currently standing at 3.15 crore -- in Indian courts.
The committee included two former judges of the Supreme Court, Attorney General KK Venugopal and law secretary Suresh Chandra, apart from legal luminaries from the field.
The panel has suggested a number of changes in the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, including inserting a confidentiality clause that will keep proceedings secret.
“Confidentiality is the norm and specifically mentioned in the statutes world over. In India, the ACA does not specify confidentiality and we have recommended an amendment to do so…It will inspire confidence in international clients choosing India for arbitral proceedings,” a member of the committee told HT while explaining the rationale behind the suggestion.
Another recommendation includes introducing a qualifying exam on the lines of the bar exam to permit lawyers to represent clients in arbitral proceedings. The committee has suggested that India should have specialised bar and benches for arbitration. The BCI conducts an all-India bar examination which is mandatory for lawyers to clear before they can start practice. But the exam is caught in a legal tangle with the Supreme Court hearing a case on its legal validity. The committee has also recommended that the government should take over the International Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution under the SC by bringing in a law and rebrand it as India Arbitration Centre after revamping it.
The government and the judiciary have been involved in a turf battle since the court struck down the National Judicial Appointments Commission Law in October 2015.