Very soon, India will pop up on the world map of major league arbitration. By this year-end, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague is expected to set up its South Asian Regional Centre in New Delhi. On the drawing board for three years, since a proposal from the world legal body first reached India, a top Law Ministry official told The Indian Express that the modalities for setting up the facility in New Delhi this year is being “actively worked on” with the Ministry of External Affairs. Officials said that a high-level government team is expected to visit The Hague this year to wrap up the paperwork. Describing the offer as a “great achievement”, Legal Affairs Secretary T K Viswanathan said, “We expect everything to be finalised this year with an MoU being signed between the PCA and the Indian Government. Despite the rich legal talent in India, and with liberalisation leading to an increasing volume of international arbitrations, there is a lack of institutional facilities in India which this Regional Centre will address.” According to the draft MoU, “The offer is made in recognition of the contributions of India to the cause of the peaceful settlement through a strict adherence to international law, a policy that India has vigorously and faithfully pursued over the years.” It adds that all officials associated with the PCA Centre will enjoy the same immunities and privileges as those accorded to officials of the United Nations — the facility will also provide basic training on arbitration procedures and regulations. Similar facilities have been set up by PCA — the world’s premier and oldest arbitration centre with over a 100 member states — in Costa Rica (for Latin America) and Pretoria (for Africa). Officials said several Asian countries had been vying to set up the centre in the region till PCA turned India’s way. Set up in 1899, the PCA describes itself as “a unique intergovernmental organisation providing a variety of dispute resolution services to the international community.” According to Viswanathan, the PCA Centre, which will be located at the International Centre for Alternate Dispute Redressal in South Delhi’s Vasant Kunj, will work like an international court with a world panel of judges. For India, the Centre comes at a time when a majority of mega government contracts come with an arbitration clause. The offer landed in New Delhi in July 2004 through the PCA General Secretary Tjaco T van den Hout — he later visited India and held discussions here.
