Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud on Thursday flagged concerns over the low proportion of women in the role of arbitrators.

The Supreme Court judge observed that it was hard to miss the gendered composition in arbitrator panels.

“We face a diversity paradox. Mismatch between our objective and what happens. There is an unconscious bias contributing to this problem. Less than 10% of arbitrators in international institutions are women,” he added.

He also expressed hope that the gender handbook recently launched by the Indian Supreme Court would come handy in avoiding gendered language in arbitration agreements.

He was speaking at the inaugural session of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) South Asia Conference, 2023.

The UNCITRAL South Asia Conference is a flagship event co-hosted by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs and the UNCITRAL National Coordination Committee of India.

The CJI’s inaugural address on Thursday also saw him observe how Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) has evolved over the years.

“ADR was considered to be rough justice earlier. A part of this hostility emerged from lack of transparency and new ideas are viewed with mistrust and we have moved far beyond. Sunshine they say is the best disinfectant...UNCITRAL model law seeks to harmonise law in different jurisdictions … With its eye on best practices, India has charted a course where arbitration is the preferred course of ADR. We have 35 arbitration institutes all across the country,” he observed.

He added that ADR helps in saving substantial costs that would otherwise have to be spent in legal fees over many years by parties to a dispute. Indian courts have been vigilant in ensuring that party autonomy is protected in arbitration matters, Justice Chandrachud added.

He also spoke in some detail about the various digitisation initiatives recently undertaken by the Supreme Court including the decision to integrate the Supreme Court of India into the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) platform which was announced earlier today.

“We have also introduced uniform citation system. Democratisation of access of knowledge has broken down feudal structures. Our judgments are being translated into all languages recognised by the Constitution of India. We are using artificial intelligence and machine learning,” he informed.

Other such initiatives touched upon by the CJI in his speech included the release of transcripts in Constitution bench cases and the live-streaming of Constitution bench cases before the Supreme Court

“My friend recently told me that watching a live constitution bench hearing on YouTube was better than a Netflix movie!” Justice Chandrachud added in a lighter vein.

Other dignitaries at the inaugural event included Attorney General for India R Venkataramani and Senior Advocate Fali Nariman.

[Read Live Coverage of the Event]