| Judicial Supervision of Arbitration in India

The relationship between Courts and Arbitration is one of mutual support and partnership. Judicial supervision is pivotal for an effective and efficient arbitral mechanism. Arbitration in India has passed through many phases – from excessive judicial control to minimal judicial supervision. This course examines how and why this shift in approach has taken place and tries to define the contours of judicial supervision. The course discusses fundamental concepts in arbitration and looks at how courts interpret and apply these concepts. Finally, the course examines to what extent the judiciary has played a role in furthering arbitration. This course will focus on critically evaluating the interaction between courts and arbitration.

The course begins with a discussion on ADRs and focuses on arbitration as one of the alternate dispute resolution methods. Then the relationship between court and arbitration is discussed in the light of the principle of judicial non-interference. The course then deals with the core concepts of arbitration along with the conduct of arbitral proceedings. Basic concepts in arbitration, like arbitration agreement, arbitrability, the appointment of arbitrators, jurisdiction of the tribunal and setting aside of award etc., are discussed with the help of the latest cases. Finally, the course ends with a discussion on the challenge of the award and the right to appeal.

Pedagogical method: lectures and Socratic method

Course Objectives 

At the end of this course, a student will be able to:

• Understand the basic principles of arbitration
• To understand the process of arbitration and the legislative framework
• Understand the limits of judicial supervision and
• Evaluate judicial supervision of arbitration and decide its extent and scope in each case