The General Counsels Association of India (GCAI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the International Arbitration and Mediation Centre, Hyderabad (IAMC) to boost mediation as a means of dispute resolution.
The MoU signing took place as part of a roundtable hosted by Unum Law, Gibson Dunn and the Secretariat and was graced by Justice Hima Kohli, judge of the Supreme Court of India as the Chief Guest.
In her keynote address, Justice Kohli highlighted that mediation is a very powerful tool and a reliable partner to boost arbitration. Noting the role of GCs in this regard, she stated,
“GCs can leverage their skills to innovate methods to encourage mediation-arbitration or arbitration-mediation-arbitration, as mediation allows for business relations to be preserved."
She added,
"The growth of so many arbitration institutions has made arbitration more appealing and approachable. A specialised arbitration bar is the need of the hour and will draw a good pool of talent, akin to bars in several high courts, it will help boost confidence in domestic and international markets, will induce a cultural shift in the legal community positioning it as a superior alternative to litigation."
President and Vice-President of GCAI CV Raghu and Shukla Wassan echoed the sentiment that GCs could play a big role in encouraging mediation.
IAMC Registrar Tariq Khan remarked that collaboration with the industry is an important factor in promoting mediation and encouraging the institutionalisation of arbitration and mediation.
The MoU captures the essence of this vision and aims to act as a tool to further the cause of mediation by leveraging the expertise of GCs.
The MoU signing was followed by a roundtable discussion on recent developments in arbitration law and ease of doing business in India. The panel comprised GCAI Founding Member and Vedanta Group General Counsel Dr Sanjeev Gemawat; Chief of Governance and Strategic Acquisitions at Akasa Air Priya Mehra Dewan; Partner at Gibson Dunn Paul Tan; Managing Director of Secretariat Chaitanya Arora; and Unum Law Partner Anushka Shah.