Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2019

News:Government has enforced various Sections of the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2019 by notifying it in Gazette.

Facts:

Salient Features of the Amendment Act:

• Arbitration Council of India: It establishes an independent body called the Arbitration Council of India (ACI) for the promotion of arbitration, mediation, conciliation and other alternative dispute redressal mechanisms.
• Mandate of ACI:ACI would be mandated to frame rules on (a)how institutions would be graded (b)norms to be followed and (c)monitoring of quality and performance.
• Composition of the ACI: The ACI will consist of a Chairperson who is either: (i) a Judge of the Supreme Court; or (ii) a Judge of a High Court; or (iii) Chief Justice of a High Court; or (iv) an eminent person with expert knowledge in conduct of arbitration.
• Relaxation of time limits: Under the original Act, arbitral tribunals are required to make their award within a period of 12 months for all arbitration proceedings.The amendment act remove this time restriction for international commercial arbitrations.
• Completion of written submissions:The written claim and the defence to the claim in an arbitration proceeding, should be completed within six months of the appointment of the arbitrators.
• Confidentiality of proceedings:It provides that the arbitrator, the arbitral institutions and the parties shall maintain confidentiality of information relating to arbitral proceedings.

Additional information:

About Alternative Dispute Resolution(ADR):

• Alternative Dispute Resolution(ADR) is the procedure for settling disputes without litigation.ADR is generally classified into-
• Arbitration – It is a procedure in which the dispute is submitted to an arbitral tribunal which makes a decision on the dispute that is binding on the parties.
• Conciliation – It is a non-binding procedure in which an impartial third party, the conciliator assists the parties to a dispute in reaching a mutually satisfactory agreed settlement of the dispute.
• Mediation – It is a procedure in which the parties discuss their disputes with the assistance of a trained impartial third person(s) who assists them in reaching a settlement.