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Ancient History of Arbitration

Ancient History of Arbitration

The industrial revolution has prompted a quick acceleration in worldwide trade and commerce. To relate to the financial development and stay away from delayed litigation, the parties resort to arbitration as the preferred dispute resolution mechanism. In India as well as strong global growth strategies and economies have understood that arbitration happens to be a great way out for all. Cross border transactions and bilateral trade relations have encouraged affiliations between nations along these lines expanding legitimate complexities. Obviously, disputes have also become inevitable and there is an interest in the approach to expedite legal remedies.

The earliest evolution of arbitration can be followed back to the time when King Solomon during rule followed the biblical theory when he settled the issue between two mothers where each one was asserting the right on the infant kid and the issue was who the genuine mother of an infant boy was? From there on, the arbitration was utilized by the rulers to settle territorial disputes and furthermore for commercial disputes. As indicated by historical references, arbitration has been set up even before the times of Christ. There have been references that demonstrate the same. For example, the Arabic word for arbitration is Tahkeem and the arbitrator is Hakam. Similarly, in the case of the Persian language, an arbitrator is called Salis and the party to the same is known as Salisee. Additionally, the first law for arbitration came into force in England in the year 1697.

Hindu Law: Glimpse of ancient Arbitration

According to the Hindu Law, one of the most punctual known treatise that makes a reference about arbitration is "Brhadaranayaka Upanishad". It elaborates about the different sorts of arbitral bodies which comprises of 3 essential bodies to be specific 'Puga' the local courts, 'Srenis' the people engaged with a similar business or profession and the 'Kulas', who were members worried about the social issues of a specific community and all these three bodies were cumulatively known as Panchayats. The members of the same were the Panchas, the then arbitrators, used to manage the dispute under a framework; we currently refer to as Arbitration. It has been seen that the disputes which were referred to the Panchas and the courts have been appropriately recognized and have received belief in the awards passed by them. The same was observed by the Privy Council in the case of Vytla Sitanna vs. Marivada Viranna.

The Modern Arbitration Law was enacted in India as early as 1772 by the Bengal Regulation Act of 1772. This was a consequence of the successful resolution of disputes amongst parties by choosing a tribunal. From there on, the same was declared to other administration towns such as Bombay and Madras through the Bombay Regulations Act of 1799 and the Madras Regulation Act of 1802.

  • Bengal Regulation Act of 1772
  • Bombay Regulations Act of 1799
  • Madras Regulation Act of 1802.

BY : Shardul Srivastava

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