Are there any alternative
modes available if we think
in terms of changing the
administration of Justice? I
can recall the famous quote
stated by Lord Devlin: “The
main field of Justice is not
litigation but non- litigation.”
The Arbitration laws first
emanated with the legislation
of Arbitration (Protocol and
Convention) Act, 1937, The
Arbitration Act, 1940 and the
Foreign Awards (Recognition
and Enforcement ) Act, 1961
which were replaced by The Arbitration and
Conciliation Act, 1996. The fact that the
Supreme Court have time and again
emphasized the need of out-of-court settlement
can been seen in the judgments in Trustees of
the port of Madras v. Engineering
Constructions Corporation Ltd and in M/s.
Guru Nanak Foundation v. M/s. Rattam Singh
and Sons. Moreover, business transactions has
in recent time been able to push
forward crossing more and more
national boundaries involving
more individuals, corporations as
well as different governments.
This can be said to be obtaining
due to factors such as
technological development,
international treaties targeted at
promoting business across
boundaries, and especially more
alternative ways of settling
disputes associated with such
businesses other than the
traditional litigation. Parties in
international business
transactions can settle any arising
dispute either by litigation,
arbitration and other alternative
ways of dispute settlement; this will
only depend on the choice of the contracting
parties in such business. Litigation has been
associated with several demerits and trends.
One of these trends of using litigation in
settling disputes in international
ARBITRATION: AN
ALTERNATE TO
LITIGATION
10
~ADV. PALLAB DAS
[ADVOCATE, ORISSA HIGH COURT]
business transaction is the huge expenses
involve in it. Alternatively, parties are trying to
avoid such cost by choosing arbitration which
seems to be cheaper and less expensive. In
many parts of India, rapid development has
meant increased caseloads for already
overburdened courts, further leading to
notoriously slow adjudication of commercial
disputes (nearly 30 million cases pending). As a
result, alternative dispute resolution
mechanisms, including arbitration, have
become more crucial for businesses operating in
India as well as those doing businesses with
Indian firms. This article highlights that there
is an alternative to litigation i.e. Arbitration
which is soon becoming a viable option to