A BIT of a Secret: Op-Ed in The Indian Express.

The Indian Express today carried an Op-Ed piece written by me together with Anirudh Wadhwa.  It is on increasing transparency in Investment Treaty Arbitrations which arise out of Bilateral Investment Treaties. The piece argues the case for the need of transparency and in addition discusses introduction of the UNCITRAL’s Transparency Rules in Indian BITs . These Rules are slated to take effect from the 1st of April, 2014.  It also discusses other international developments that have ensued to increase transparency worldwide, such as by USA and Canada.

The link to the piece is here: http://epaper.indianexpress.com/c/2256799

EXLUSIVE: Copy of the First Petition on The Indian Arbitration Act.

India had enacted its Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 after repealing and merging the earlier Acts which governed domestic arbitrations and enforcement of foreign awards separately  At the very introduction of the 1996 Act, few  problem areas were recognised by Indian Legal and Economic Forum which was led by eminent Indian Senior Counsel, Shishir Dholakia. A writ petition was filed in the Supreme Court of India with regard to that. We have secured a copy of the petition. The petition is academically very stimulating and gives a lot of food for thought to everyone involved in domestic as well as international arbitration community.  It is below:

Petition questioning validity of certain provisions of Part I of the India Arbitration and Conciliation...

UNCITRAL revises 34 year old arbitration rules

UNCITRAL has, for the first time after 1976 published a revised version of its arbitration rules.  The new rules can be accessed here. A good summary of the rules by Mr. Badrinath Srinivasan can be found here.