India’s ADR system is emerging as a global model for efficient, fair, and investor-friendly dispute resolution. Arjun Ram Meghwal highlights its role in strengthening cross-border commerce and supporting modernity as an essential forward-looking instrument of justice.
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BAHRAIN: India’s alternative dispute resolution (ADR) system has emerged as a cornerstone of cross-border commerce, Union Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal said at the launch of the Bahrain International Commercial Court (BICC).
Highlighting India’s growing influence in global legal reform, Meghwal called ADR “an essential forward-looking instrument of justice,” crucial for fostering investor confidence and ensuring predictable, transparent dispute resolution.
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“Investor confidence depends not just on market opportunity but on predictable and strong dispute-resolution systems,”
Meghwal stated.
He noted that modern commercial relationships demand expertise, speed, and procedural certainty, all qualities reflected in India’s evolving legal architecture.
Meghwal pointed to India’s Arbitration and Conciliation Act, Commercial Courts, and the 2023 Mediation Act as key milestones shaping a more robust, investor-friendly legal environment. These reforms, he said, demonstrate India’s commitment to party autonomy, procedural integrity, and efficiency.
Underscoring the human side of justice, Meghwal praised Lok Adalats, India’s grassroots dispute resolution mechanism, which he described as “people-centric justice that resolves millions of cases in a dignified, timely, and cost-free manner.”
“Efficiency and empathy can and must go hand in hand,”
he added, emphasizing the need to balance commercial progress with accessibility and fairness.
Drawing attention to the 5,000-year-old civilisational bond between India and Bahrain, from the Dilmun and Indus Valley cultures to modern trade exceeding USD 1.6 billion, Meghwal welcomed the establishment of the BICC as a “visionary step.”
“Our shared vision is clear — to ensure that commerce between our nations is supported by legal systems that are modern, effective, and internationally aligned,”
he said.
He proposed judicial exchange programmes, hybrid dispute resolution models, and technology-enabled legal platforms to create a “seamless legal corridor” between India and Bahrain.
Speaking at the same event, Senior Advocate and BICC Judge Pinky Anand hailed the creation of the Bahrain International Commercial Court as “an idea whose time has come.”
She emphasized that the BICC, built on a Bahrain–Singapore treaty framework, integrates global jurists, technological innovation, and a treaty-based appellate structure — elements she described as the “gold standard of international adjudication.”
“The Bahrain International Commercial Court embodies this vision—a vision that recognizes justice as the foundation of lasting peace and economic progress,”
Anand said, calling Singapore a “leading light in commercial justice.”
She also stressed that collaboration among international commercial courts is key to enhancing legal certainty and regional comity, adding:
“The old guard is now changing. No longer will we rely on ad-hoc tribunals operating without the necessary teeth.”
Although unable to attend in person, Justice Surya Kant extended his message through the King Hamad Lecture Ceremony in Manama, calling the launch of the BICC “a milestone for Bahrain and the wider region.”
“The creation of this institution underscores a deep commitment to the Rule of Law, judicial excellence, and the facilitation of global commerce,”
he wrote.
