Building a vibrant community of arbitral practitioners with the Young MCIA

The legal community has by and large welcomed the establishment of India’s first-of-its-kind institutional arbitration centre, the Mumbai Centre for International Arbitration (MCIA), which was inaugurated in October of last year..This is being viewed as a progressive step towards setting the stage for a new age of institutional arbitration of India, which was lacking so far. During an interview with Sarah Grimmer, Secretary General of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Center, she said,.“Th.e MCIA is an important development for domestic arbitration in India. During my time here, I have developed the strong impression that there is a real demand for institutional support in domestic arbitrations. There is a lot of ad-hoc arbitration in India, but not a lot of institutional arbitration in the domestic context.”.Indian parties choosing to opt for arbitration for commercial disputes have been, either resorting to ad-hoc arbitrations within India or picking institutions in foreign jurisdictions, mostly Singapore, with a high price tag attached to both methods. The MCIA is committed to resolving this issue by bringing down these exorbitant costs and, the time taken to resolve these disputes..In its most latest initiative, the MCIA has launched the ‘Young MCIA’ programme which, inter alia, seeks to build a community of young arbitral practitioners across India, thereby encouraging free flow of ideas and information within this community, thus bolstering the arbitration ecosystem in India..Speaking to Madhukeshwar Desai, CEO of MCIA, and also one of the two members of the MCIA Secretariat, he says,.“We want to bring in best practices to arbitration in India, and one of the best ways of doing that is with younger arbitral practitioners. The speakers at the Young MCIA workshops will be demonstrating how to conduct arbitration, to international standards.”.The Young MCIA is a programme, which allows membership to any arbitral practitioner below the age of forty. As a part of this programme, MCIA will be conducting several workshops throughout the year, with the inaugural one being conducted on on 18th February in Mumbai, for which registrations [link] are still open. Desai adds,.“It’s effectively like a training. So what we will also be doing at the event is, launching a Young MCIA calendar of events; giving the members an opportunity to pick and choose the events, that they feel will add value to their careers.”.As for membership of the Young MCIA, it’s open throughout the year. While being a member of the Young MCIA has no costs associated with it, attending each workshops does. As a member of the Young MCIA, you will receive updates for future events. Alternatively, one may simply register for the events as and when they are conducted without being a part of the Young MCIA..The chief guest for the Young MCIA Launch will be Justice Dr. D.Y. Chandrachud, and the list of speakers includes several eminent arbitral practitioners from India and abroad.