Top UK lawyer urges India to delay arbitration Bill

A former Attorney-General and now partner at an international law firm has urged India’s government to delay controversial amendments to the country’s arbitration law, arguing that the proposals ‘appear to prohibit foreign lawyers’. According to a Law Gazette report, in a speech in New Delhi, Lord Goldsmith QC (Peter Goldsmith) said changes contained in The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill 2018 could ‘set back the cause of Indian arbitration by many years, perhaps a generation.’ Delivering the inaugural address at the 11th Annual International Arbitration Conclave in New Delhi last weekend, Goldsmith said previous progress, including the Supreme Court ruling of March last year, had given hope that India could establish itself as a ‘leading hub’ for international arbitration. But the drafting of the 2018 Bill has put that under threat, he warned. The relevant passage of the Bill states: ‘A person shall not be qualified to be an arbitrator unless – (i) is an advocate within the meaning of the Advocates Act, 1961 having 10 years of practice experience as an advocate …’. The wording, according to Goldsmith, would ‘appear at a stroke to prohibit the appointment of foreign lawyers as arbitrators in Indian seated arbitrations. Because you would have to be an Indian advocate to qualify.’ Not only would this restrict foreign lawyers, it would also prohibit the appointment of many ‘experienced and able arbitrators’, including ships' masters, architects and doctors, he warned. The Bill has passed the Lower House, the Lok Sabha, but has yet to be considered by the Rajya Sabha (Upper House).