Supreme Court judge Justice Hima Kohli flags lack of gender diversity among international arbitrators

Supreme Court judge Justice Hima Kohli recently highlighted the lack of diversity including gender diversity amongst international arbitrators..Justice Kohli said that gender diversity among arbitrators is essential for promoting inclusivity and fairness in the field of dispute resolution..Justice Kohli was speaking at the ‘International Arbitration Day’ organised by The International Arbitration & Mediation Centre, Hyderabad in collaboration with law firm Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co..The top court judge highlighted a report by the Cross-Institutional Task Force on Gender Diversity in Arbitral Appointments and Proceedings which found that before the year 2015, women were a miniscule fraction of arbitrators."They accounted for five women (3.5%) in the population of 145 investment treaty arbitrators and that there were no tribunals composed of two or more women," said Justice Kohli. .However, the Supreme Court judge stated that there has been significant improvement in recent years where more women arbitrators have been appointed."Between 2015 and 2021, the percentage of women appointed as arbitrators has nearly doubled from 12.6% to 26.1%. Arbitration institutions must be credited for having played a significant role in driving this trend. Between 2015 and 2020, at least a quarter of all the appointments by Arbitration institutions have been of women, increasing their share in the pie from 24.9% in 2015 to 37.9% in 2021. For co-arbitrator appointments, the percentage of women appointed has nearly tripled from 10.1% in 2015 to 27.1% in 2021," said Justice Kohli..The Supreme Court judge said that there are several other ways to promote women in the field of arbitration and one such way is for the arbitral institutions to develop systematic and collaborative strategies in key areas.."These include enhancing education and training through scholarships for women and representatives of other under-represented groups and revising institutional arbitration rules to appoint diverse arbitrators, particularly women, a standard practice in the selection process. Additionally, increasing awareness activities like the present one must be undertaken on a regular basis to update all stakeholders in international and domestic arbitrations including parties, General counsel, litigation lawyers and arbitrators, to bring a balance in making the appointments," said Justice Kohli.