Synopsis – Format - ICA

First page
Name of the candidate and registration number
Title- The History and Evolution of International Commercial Arbitration
- Title should reflect the broad area of the project chosen-
- should be short and precise
- not exceeding 10 words
- bold, underlined
Sub title –A Study with Special Reference to Role of the Indian courts in analysing
‘International Commercial Arbitration’
- should specifically indicate the topic of discussion
- Should be in italics, underlined
Second Page
Introduction – International commercial arbitration is not a recent phenomenon. Dispute
resolution or settlement outside court by a person agreed to be the parties in commercial
transactions is an ancient mechanism dating back to the beginning of recorded human society.
Trade and commerce is the backbone of every society and hence, growth of transactions and
interface in a society automatically necessitates a dispute resolution mechanism. The resort to
arbitration as a dispute resolution mechanism was so natural that it was a process that existed
even before a definite legal system was established, courts constituted or judges appointed for
the adjudication of legal principles. It was natural to approach a neutral third party, a mutually
respected person, such as a tribe leader to resolve disputes. The ancient Sumerians, Persians,
Egyptians, Indians, Greeks and Romans all had a tradition of arbitration. The seeds of modern
international commercial arbitration were sown in the 19th and 20th centuries, with the pioneers
being France and England, where the crown established certain rules for formalising outside
court dispute resolution mechanisms. Post the World Wars, with a boom in international trade,
arbitration was considered to be a less formal, faster, easier and more efficient dispute
resolution process than the normal courts. Foreign traders found it tedious to subject themselves
to the jurisdiction of national courts, and be drawn into the loop of delay on menial and
technical grounds. There was a need for standardisation of international commercial arbitration,
and thus several conventions such were drawn, of which, The Geneva Protocol on Arbitration
Clauses of 1923 and the Geneva Convention on the Execution of Foreign Arbitral Awards of
1927, The New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Awards,
1961 and the UNCITRAL Model Law are the most important. Post the Panchayat system in
the pre British era, the Arbitration in India was governed as per the Arbitration Act of 1940
and the Enforcement of Foreign Awards of 1961. International commercial arbitration, though
in place was not recognised as a specific form of arbitration under the then legal regime, and it
is with this in mind that the parliament passed the 1996 legislation to standardise arbitration
according to the UNCITRAL Model Law on Arbitration.
- This should set the tone for the entire project.
- It must have a detailed background study to show the need for research in this area.
 - It must also outline the relating concepts/ theories to the topic.
- For instance a study on public policy as a ground for setting aside an award under
international commercial arbitration would entail a discussion on the general concept
of public policy and law of contracts.
Relevance-
A better and complete understanding of the present is possible only when on a comprehensive
study of the past. A detailed study of the origins, growth and evolution of international
commercial arbitration, globally and nationally is essential to understand the reasons for the
present law governing arbitration. In the Indian context, the purpose of the 1996 legislation
was to ensure that there was minimum amount of judicial interference and maximum
importance given to party autonomy. The Act, was a measure to consolidate the existing law
on arbitration, to incorporate international commercial arbitration and standardise arbitration
by adopting the UNCITRAL Model Law and to reduce judicial interference at every stage.
However, with the pronouncement of cases such as Bhatia, Venture Global, and ONGC v Saw
Pipes, saw how the 1996 legislation was abused by the courts to such a large extent that foreign
entities marked their reluctance to choose the Indian Law of arbitration, and India a seat of
arbitration in the arbitration proceedings. Particular sections such as 8, 9, 11, 16 and 34
particularly were interpreted such that the judiciary (a civil court of the country) could interfere
at every stage of the proceeding. The history shows that the main aim of legislations governing
international commercial arbitration, globally and nationally is to ensure easy and efficient
outside court dispute resolution mechanism. The whole purpose of the legislation which is to
universalise and standardise international commercial arbitration was lost in the light of these
decisions. The 2015, and 2019 amendments were in answer to this, but the question still
remains –
Whether the Indian courts have analysed international commercial arbitration keeping
in mind, its evolution, growth and the current position giving due importance to the
concepts such as standardisation, party autonomy and minimum judicial interference.
The contemporary importance of this topic in the existing legal framework should be analysed.
- The researcher is expected to understand and show how and why this topic needs to be
studied, and its significance in the field of legal research. The problems/issues in the
area should be identified
- A definitive and unambiguous statement of the problem/issues should be made
Scope – there is a need to identify the sources of arbitration-public sources and private sources.
Private sources bring about a discussion on concepts such as party autonomy, intention of the
parties on choice of law and proper law of contracts. Public sources include:
1. National sources – The Arbitration Act of 1940, Enforcement of Foreign Awards Act
of 1961, The Arbitration and Conciliation act of 1996, the Arbitration Amendment Act
of 2015, The Arbitration Amendment Act of 2019
2. International Sources- The UNCITRAL Model Law, , The Geneva Protocol on
Arbitration Clauses of 1923 and the Geneva Convention on the Execution of Foreign
Arbitral Awards of 1927, The New York Convention on the Recognition and
Enforcement of Foreign Awards, 1961. Other regional conventions such as the Inter-
American Convention on International Commercial Arbitration, known as the Panama
 Convention of 1975, entered into force on June 16, 1976 between the member states of
the Organization of American States (OAS); The Arab Convention on Commercial
Arbitration; and The MERCOSUR Agreement on International Commercial
Arbitration done in Buenos Aires in 1998.

The researcher should indicate the coverage of the study. All case laws, legislations,
amendments, conventions that will be covered in the research paper should be identified and
specified.
Objectives – the objectives of this paper is three fold
1. To have a comprehensive understanding of the evolution of the concept of international
commercial arbitration globally – the ancient period, the 19th and 20th century, and the
modern period – post 1950
2. To study the concept of arbitration in the Indian context- the Vedic period, the Pre =
British period of panchayath system, Arbitration during the British era, and the Post-
Independence era
3. The role of courts in analysing the concept – a study of case laws post the 1996
legislation

The purpose and aims of the study should be enumerated in a bulleted format. The objectives
should include a list of questions that are to be answered through this research
Expected outcome- The Indian courts have analysed international commercial arbitration
keeping in mind, its evolution, growth and the current position giving due importance to the
concepts such as standardisation, party autonomy and minimum judicial interference.
Project outline-
The project intends to cover
1. Ancient History to modern law on international commercial arbitration (globally) –
This will include all national, regional and international statutes and conventions during
this period
a) 500 B.C.- 16th century
b) 19th-20th century
c) 1920s-1950
d) Post 1950
2. The concept of arbitration in the Indian context- this will include
1940,1961,1996,2015,2019 legislations
a. the Vedic period,
b. the Pre- British period of panchayath system,
c. Arbitration during the British era,
d. the Post-Independence era
e. present legal framework
3. The Indian judiciary in analysing International Commercial Arbitration
From Bhatia to BALCO
The researcher should give a brief outline of the areas that are going to be covered in this paper
(details of all the headings/sub headings sought to be covered)
Review of literature –
The researcher should identify all materials (primary/secondary sources) and enlist them using
the latest blue book citation.
Please note-
- The synopsis should not exceed 3 pages.
- No footnotes or end notes
- Introduction should be in the researchers own words
- This is only a draft synopsis just to give an understanding of how to go about the topic
selection process, please do not chose or submit the same topic for your project.