Ethics, transparency integral to Alternative Dispute Resolution: Justice SR Krishna Kumar

Maintaining high ethical standards and ensuring transparency is essential and integral to upholding the credibility of the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) processes, Justice SR Krishna Kumar of Karnataka High Court recently said.

Justice Krishna Kumar made the comments while delivering the keynote address in Bengaluru on September 23 at the India ADR week event organised by the Mumbai Centre for International Arbitration (MCIA).

The judge said that as ADR continues to gain prominence globally and in India, maintaining high ethical standards and ensuring transparency was essential to upholding the credibility of the process.

“In ADR, where processes are offered often private and flexible, these principles become even more vital and to prevent misuse and to ensure fairness parties engaged in ADR expecting impartiality and equitable treatment. Ethical conduct by neutrals before we may say so neutrals, meaning arbitrators, mediators and conciliators is essential for building trust and confidence in the process. The acceptance and enforceability of ADR outcomes hinge on the perception that the proceedings were conducted ethically and transparently,” he stated.

The judge also stressed upon the importance of having more women as arbitrators.

In this regard, he highlighted the comments made by Supreme Court judge Justice BV Nagarathna last month during the inaugural address at the first edition of Bengaluru Alternative Dispute Resolution Week.

“Prioritising the nomination of women as court appointed arbitrators is an important step towards addressing the long-standing criticism that arbitration has been dominated by male practitioners as highlighted by Honourable Justice BV Nagarathna, in a recent ADR week at the Karnataka judicial academy. Promoting women in these roles not only challenges the male preserve of arbitration, but also enhances gender diversity, which is crucial to ensuring that the process is more representative of the society at large,” Justice Krishna Kumar said.

MCIA has organised a six-day long event on ADR with keynote addresses and panel discussions on the subject by judges, Senior Counsel, lawyers, and other stakeholders. The event is taking place simultaneously in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru.