Conference programme

Is the Indian justice system too slow? Does it not move with remarkable speed when there is some urgency demonstrated? Is there a risk that the pendency of cases could lead to paralysis of the system? Is the rule of law an illusion that would be difficult to sustain through the 21st century? How will India tackle the arrears created before and during the Covid-19 period, which have given rise to the phrase ‘pendency pandemic’ used to describe the cases that are pending in India’s courts. Eminent luminaries from the bar and bench will discuss each of these questions in order to shed light upon India’s future plans, its upcoming e-court systems, the increasing footprint of online hearings and the potential for artificial intelligence to assist India’s machinery of justice. What adequate measures should be taken at this stage to stop increasing the caseload and to deal with the pending cases? Are there simple solutions for the system to expedite criminal and commercial cases? What do they have in common?

This session will explore India’s new arbitration institutions, such as the Mumbai Centre for International Arbitration (MCIA) and the International Arbitration and Mediation Centre (IAMC), and examine their efficacy. The benefits of institutional arbitrations as opposed to ad hoc arbitration and the advantages of the rulebased order for each such case will be discussed. The panellists will also discuss the disadvantages of rigid institutionalised arbitration. Some of the newly developed tools for conducting arbitration whilst recording submissions and evidence will be discussed against the backdrop of ordinary ad hoc arbitration approaches decided by party autonomy and negotiated clauses. The panel will also explore some of the difficulties arising from unique midnight clauses prepared by lawyers under pressure, and the resulting chaos that arises through party autonomy and their failure to take into account standard clauses suggested by institutions as one clause fits all solutions.

Trial remains an important part of the Indian legal system, but trial and error also determines the fate of a good case. The art of crossexamination, its inherent risks – too much or too little – and what defines a Goldilocks cross-examination will be explained by experts with war stories and anecdotes. This session will allow seasoned trial lawyers to share their experiences. Part of the session will be in a thought-provoking mock-trial format, designed to be exciting and interesting for young and seasoned lawyers alike. New techniques for trial procedures adopted after the pandemic consequent to online witness examination will be considered. Automated transcription and the dangers of a ‘recording in progress’ will also be touched upon. This session will explore crossborder approaches and solutions for commonly faced trial and cross-examination issues and risks.

What happens to a dispute after arguments are concluded? Do judges read everything? Do words matter? What about grammar? Do judges render judgments quickly or only after carefully examining the entire record and hundreds of pages to make up their own minds? Or should they depend only on what they have heard in court from counsel? How important are written pleadings and drafting? A high court judge will explore the above questions and consider and explain the realities of judgment writing after a long day of hearings. What do judges look for on the record and in pleadings? How much research is done when insufficient case law is provided by arguing counsels and their facilitators or advocates-on-record? Other members of the panel will examine assumptions about their pleadings, submissions and the risk of unplanned admissions.

A specialist sitting high court judge (Justice Pratibha M Singh), experienced in intellectual property law, will give a keynote speech on the impact of recent decisions within and outside India in the development of intellectual property law. Other speakers will consider the impact of recent trends in Asia – competitiveness, economic considerations, market forces, etc – and their effect upon the enforcement of intellectual property rights and developments in multiple jurisdictions.

Criminal offences are increasingly being included in financial regulatory statutes and dozens of new legislations. These include initiatives covering privacy, data protection, competition law, intellectual property, food safety, foreign exchange regulation, tax, securities, insolvency and almost everything else from airports to zoos. The incursion of criminal law into regulatory regimes underscores the state’s inability to achieve compliance with the rule of law without stiff penalties. This panel will discuss the above issues from an international perspective, exploring inter alia the cross-border application of law, fugitives and multi-jurisdictional enforcement problems not only to trace the offender but also to discourage the commission of an offence by non-resident and untethered entities.

In an Oxford-style debate, three arbitration practitioners (judges and lawyers) on one side will develop and defend the theme of arbitration as an attractive dispute resolution mechanism and an alternative to litigation. The debate will consider aspects of arbitration such as cost and convenience, speed and savings through online hearings, the science of modern arbitration dispute resolution via transcription records and the taking of evidence under the IBA rules, among others. Defenders of litigation will inter alia reflect upon the role of adjudication resulting in precedents that establish rights in rem, the cost of legal proceedings through effective public mechanisms, speed and certainty of the results. An international perspective will be added through the participation of speakers from other jurisdictions defending one or the other perspective.