Chief Justice Kant stresses on stronger ADR framework to realise aspirations of India-UK FTA
PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant while addressing the ICA’s 4th Edition of the International Conference on “Arbitrating Indo-UK Commercial Disputes” at London, made a strong case for strengthening Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism to realise the aspiration of the free trade agreement (FTA) concluded between India and United Kingdom last year. Kant said, “We need to strengthen the institutional arbitration that is required to ensure that party autonomy remains a guarantee of procedural fairness rather than a source of procedural contestation”. Referring to the FTA concluded between India and UK, he said it is expected to increase bilateral trade between the two nations by an estimated USD 34 billion a year in the near future, which is indeed an aspiration of extraordinary ambition. “But ambitions are realised in contracts, not in communiqués. The Indo-UK economic partnership cannot be strengthened by trade agreements, tariff schedules and investment announcements alone. It also needs an ADR architecture that converts commercial confidence into day-to-day practice,” he said.
In his keynote address, Sir Geoffrey Vos, Master of the Rolls and Head of Civil Justice of England and Wales, spoke about the evolving role of technology and artificial intelligence in dispute resolution and highlighted the importance of maintaining trust, fairness, and efficiency within legal systems.
Speaking on the occasion, Kartik Pande, Deputy High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom said that the Indian Government remains fully committed to promote ADR for faster resolution of disputes.
Brett Dixon, Vice President, The Law Society of England and Wales emphasised on the importance of legal cooperation, institutional engagement, and effective dispute resolution mechanisms in strengthening business confidence and commercial partnerships.
ICA president NG Khaitan said that people have reposed trust and confidence in India, which today is one of the safest places to do business. He also stressed on the need to promote arbitration to expeditiously resolve commercial disputes and said that judgments of the Indian courts are cited all over the world. ICA director general Arun Chawla said that arbitration has become a silent infrastructure of growth and emphasised that both India and UK are investing in strengthening the arbitration system.
