BRICS Justice Ministers’ Meeting adopts resolution on Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanism

The Justice Ministers’ Meeting followed the senior officials’ two-day meeting conducted in a hybrid mode with participation from Egypt, China, Brazil, India, Ethiopia, Iran, Indonesia, Russia, South Africa and United Arab Emirates in Gandhinagar on May 19 and 20. It concluded with a shared consensus on a joint declaration on ADR.  This was presented for formal adoption at the two-day Ministers’ of Justice Meeting on Thursday.

Meghwal stated that the best practices of all the BRICS countries will be shared for capacity building including training of judicial officers with the focus on ADR.

“On digital innovation, initiatives like e-platform, which is being developed in India, were discussed and other countries too have agreed to adopt it. For instance, court records of 1950 or 1960 and even before that including reports of princely states are available. The digitisation of all these records will be done in order to preserve them safely,” he said.

The e-platform will reduce the time lost between a judgement and release of a prisoner, the minister said. “Once a court judgement of releasing an accused is passed, the judicial magistrate uploads this on the e-platform which reaches the e-prison portal within 10 minutes and the prisoner can be released. In the absence of e-platform, one has to  take certified judgement copy, get it verified, take it to the jail superintendent who at times rejects it if it reaches after 6 pm and asks the person to come the next day,” he added.

Delegates deliberated on institutional mediation, arbitration reforms, and the role of ADR in commercial and public sector disputes, highlighting experiences, challenges, and emerging trends in their respective jurisdictions.

Declaration on ADR

The declaration reflects a shared commitment to expand mediation and arbitration across member countries.  Key elements of the declaration include strengthening capacity building initiatives for stakeholders including government legal officers, mediators, arbitrators, judges, and legal professionals through training programmes; promoting institutional mediation and arbitration reforms to enhance accessibility, efficiency, and enforceability of ADR processes; encouraging cooperation and knowledge-sharing on best practices, including use of digital tools and innovation in ADR.

The adoption of the declaration underscores BRICS members’ collective vision to make mediation and arbitration more accessible and effective as preferred mechanisms for resolving disputes, thereby reducing burden on courts and fostering a stable environment for trade and investment, said an official statement.