PANAJI
The inaugural session of the All India seminar on International Commercial Law organized by International Law Association (India) at Panaji witnessed some of the country’s top legal officers expressing the need for a robust international arbitration center in India for resolution of cross-border commercial disputes.
Attorney General of India K K Venugopal spoke about the impediments faced by foreign investors in the country owing to the unavailability of foreign legal consultancy. He said that having foreign legal consultants will not only boost foreign investment in India but will also help the traditional judicial set-up in the country evolve its functioning.
“There is no center in India for international commercial law. Most of the cases involving Indian government are heard before the Singapore International Arbitration Center (SIAC). The Indian government has at least a billion dollars involved in such disputes. There is an urgent need for a regime of foreign legal consultancy in our country,” the Attorney General stated.
Supreme Court Justice A K Sikri also made a similar case when he said that although India’s ranking for ease of doing business has improved from 130th to 100th, it is still abysmal for the second fastest growing economy in the world.
He pointed out that the landscape of international commerce has undergone a transformation and that matters are not confined to borders of nation-state anymore.
“Arbitration needs to be uniform to avoid conflicts between domestic laws applying to different parties. There is a need for codification, unification and harmonization of law,” he stated adding that recognition of an international policy based on national principles is the need of the hour.
Justice Sikri also highlighted that part of sovereignty is also being ceded by nation states in matters of e-commerce and international commerce.
Spekaing about the magnitude of e-commerce in India, Justice Sikri said that the industry would grow to a whopping 50 to 55 billion dollars by 2020. “At present, around 69 million Indians shop online. This figure is expected to rise to 330 million in the next four years. To deal with this, we need to evolve strong internal consumer laws,” he stated.
Justice Sikri further voiced the pressing need for economic analysis of law and jurisprudence in the light of international best practices.
While Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, who was unable to remain present for the seminar, in his written address said cross-border flow of services and technology require a new type of facilitator considering that outsourcing and off-shoring are the new preferred modes. The CJI called upon the state to take over this role and said that profit maximization should not be the only aim of new emerging businesses.
