National

Permanent Court of Arbitration branch in Delhi

New Delhi: A regional branch of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) for South Asia is to be established in New Delhi in recognition of the contributions made by India to the cause of peaceful settlement of disputes through strict adherence to international law, a policy that India has vigorously and faithfully pursued over the years.

The regional facility as an organ of the PCA is potentially capable of providing the same services as PCA headquarters in The Hague, the Netherlands. The mission of the facility will be to promote the use by States, non-State parties and private parties in South Asia of the PCA’s mechanisms of dispute resolution cited in the United Nation’s Charter.

Although the focus of the PCA is the settlement of inter-State disputes, the PCA has extended its facilities to cases involving non-State parties. The PCA thus occupies a singular place at the juncture between public and private international law.

Law Secretary T.K. Viswanathan told The Hindu that the modalities were being worked out for the setting up of the regional facility in the capital by December.

Explaining the advantages, he said that in recent decades, States had become as savvy as international commercial private parties in their choice of dispute resolution mechanism to solve complex disputes within the realm of international law.

The rapid growth of economic interchange between the States favoured a whole generation of laws in which settlement of disputes using arbitration and other mechanisms cited in the U.N. charter played a central role. The renewed confidence in arbitration could provide an incentive to the States to facilitate the resolution of disputes in public and private spheres.

Moreover, the inclusion of arbitration clauses in public contracts was crucial in confidence building for public and private corporate investors in South Asia and would help create a positive effect on the stability and economic growth in South Asia. The continued use of PCA’s arbitration and conciliation rules of procedure and of the Regional facility as the forum of choice could improve the perceived investment climate in certain countries of South Asia. It would enhance the image of transparency, predictability and reliability in the administration of justice in those countries.

According to Mr. Viswanathan the setting up of the regional facility would help in cost control and reduction in travel time.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu