From National Courts to Global Forums: CJI Surya Kant Bats for Stronger India–France Arbitration Linkages

(By Syed Ali Taher Abedi)

NEW DELHI / PARIS —Chief Justice of India, Justice Surya Kant, on Friday underscored the urgent need for a deeper, more structured, and institutionalised partnership between India and France in the domains of arbitration and mediation, observing that robust cross-border dispute resolution mechanisms are indispensable to sustaining innovation-driven economic cooperation between the two nations.

“In sum, India’s arbitration regime today is not merely functional; it is forward looking, consistent, predictable and designed to make arbitration the default, not the exception, in commercial dispute resolution.”

Delivering the keynote address at the Indo-French Legal and Business Conference, organised against the backdrop of the India–France Year of Innovation 2026, the Chief Justice noted that as bilateral trade, foreign investment, and technological collaboration continue to expand, commercial disputes are inevitable.

“Together, the Arbitration Act, the Mediation Act, and the Commercial Courts Act form a coherent 20 | P a g e ecosystem: arbitration for binding resolution, mediation for consensual settlement, and specialized courts for oversight and enforcement.”

What assumes critical importance, he said, is the existence of a dispute resolution framework that is credible, efficient, neutral, and anchored in principled adjudication.

Justice Surya Kant emphasised that modern economic partnerships cannot thrive in the absence of trust in legal systems, particularly mechanisms that resolve disputes swiftly while respecting party autonomy.

“A first and particularly promising avenue lies in the establishment of perhaps joint arbitration and mediation panels, comprising of professionals trained across civil and common law traditions. Such panels would bring not only technical excellence but also the cultural and jurisprudential fluency necessary for resolving disputes that traverse legal systems as seamlessly as they traverse markets.”

He observed that arbitration and mediation play a pivotal role in insulating commercial relationships from prolonged litigation and jurisdictional uncertainty.

Tracing India’s legal evolution, the Chief Justice highlighted the country’s gradual yet decisive transition from a litigation-centric justice delivery model to an ADR-first ecosystem.

Referring to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 and its successive amendments, he stated that India has consciously aligned its arbitration framework with global best practices. The reforms, he said, have strengthened party autonomy, curtailed excessive judicial intervention, and simultaneously preserved limited court oversight to safeguard fairness and procedural integrity.

“Innovation, however, increasingly unfolds in digital space. Technology-enabled Online Dispute Resolution, therefore, presents a natural frontier for Indo–French collaboration, particularly for small and medium enterprises and startups. Joint ODR pilot projects can ensure that access to justice evolves in tandem with technological advancement, rather than trailing behind it”

Justice Surya Kant further pointed out that arbitral awards originating from New York Convention countries, including France, are enforceable in India in the same manner as decrees of Indian courts.

This, he observed, sends a strong signal of legal certainty and predictability to foreign investors and international businesses seeking to engage with the Indian market.

Highlighting the judiciary’s role in reinforcing arbitration, the Chief Justice said that the Supreme Court of India has consistently adopted a pro-arbitration stance.

Courts, he noted, have discouraged hyper-technical objections, upheld the sanctity of arbitration agreements, and reiterated minimal judicial interference at both the pre-award and post-award stages.

Turning to mediation, Justice Surya Kant described the Mediation Act, 2023 as a landmark legislative reform that grants statutory recognition to mediation as a formal mode of dispute resolution.

The Act, he said, not only makes mediated settlement agreements legally enforceable but also actively promotes pre-litigation mediation, including online mediation, thereby making it particularly suitable for cross-border and commercial disputes.

In a forward-looking address, the Chief Justice proposed several concrete measures to deepen Indo-French cooperation in the field of dispute resolution.

These include the creation of joint arbitration and mediation panels comprising professionals trained in both civil law and common law traditions; stronger institutional partnerships between Indian arbitration centres and Paris-based arbitration institutions; and structured judicial and academic exchanges to foster mutual learning and convergence of legal practices.

Justice Surya Kant concluded by observing that India and France, as mature democracies with shared commitments to the rule of law, are well-positioned to jointly shape the future of international dispute resolution in an increasingly interconnected global economy.