Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant has underscored the growing strategic importance of mediation in resolving cross-border commercial disputes, asserting that mechanisms for dispute resolution must evolve with the pace and complexity of global commerce.
Addressing the first working session of the BRICS Chief Justices’ Forum on Friday, on the theme “Mediation as a Strategic Mechanism for Resolving International Commercial Disputes in a Globalised Economy”, the CJI said the participating jurisdictions collectively represent legal systems serving almost half of the world’s population and economies accounting for nearly two-fifths of global economic output.
Against this backdrop, Justice Surya Kant emphasised that the administration of justice could no longer be treated as an exclusively domestic endeavour.
“International commerce has become closely integrated, while our legal systems remain divided by national boundaries,” he observed, pointing to the increasingly transnational character of commercial relationships.
A single business arrangement, the CJI noted, may involve parties incorporated in different jurisdictions, transactions governed by multiple legal regimes and contractual obligations extending across national borders. Disputes arising from such relationships, therefore, may not lend themselves easily to resolution within the confines of a single legal system.
Justice Surya Kant acknowledged that courts and arbitral tribunals remain indispensable to the rule of law, providing authoritative determinations, certainty and protection of legal rights. However, he cautioned that adjudication cannot necessarily address every dimension of an international commercial dispute.
He drew attention to an important distinction between adjudication and mediation. While conventional adjudicatory mechanisms principally determine which party is legally entitled to prevail, mediation allows disputants to explore arrangements that enable their commercial relationship to continue.
“The conventional methods of adjudication always ask: Who is legally right? Mediation simply asks: What arrangement will allow the parties to move forward?” the CJI said.
Describing mediation as fundamentally a process of “reason and reconciliation”, he clarified that it should not be viewed as a substitute for litigation or arbitration. Instead, it provides an additional avenue for parties willing to negotiate a mutually acceptable resolution.
This flexibility assumes particular significance in complex and long-term commercial relationships, where a dispute over contractual obligations does not necessarily extinguish the underlying business relationship. Mediation can facilitate revised contractual terms, restructuring of obligations and phased performance, thereby preserving commercial ties while resolving the immediate dispute.
The CJI said the diversity represented within the BRICS grouping could become an institutional strength in developing effective mediation frameworks for international commerce.
He referred to developments demonstrating growing international acceptance of mediation, including the signing of the Singapore Convention on Mediation by India and China in 2019 and its ratification by Brazil in 2025. He also highlighted India’s Mediation Act, 2023, as an important legislative step towards institutionalising mediation within the country’s dispute-resolution architecture.
Referring to India’s experience with mass mediation initiatives, Justice Surya Kant said the Mediation for the Nation campaign resulted in the settlement of approximately 1.05 lakh cases during 2024 and another 1.10 lakh cases within the first four months of 2025.
He further highlighted the recently organised Samadhan Samaroh, during which 1,712 cases were settled—around twice the number resolved through the corresponding initiative in 2024.
The CJI also pointed to the constitution of the Mediation Council of India on August 27, 2026, describing it as a significant institutional development aimed at strengthening professional standards, accountability and credibility in the mediation ecosystem.
Justice Surya Kant called for greater institutional collaboration among mediation centres, judicial bodies, professional organisations and the business community.
He stressed the importance of developing robust professional training, strengthening multilingual mediation capabilities and facilitating sustained engagement among judges, mediators and commercial stakeholders.
According to the CJI, the effectiveness of mediation in international commerce would depend not merely upon legislative frameworks but also upon the creation of institutional confidence among businesses operating across jurisdictions.
The judiciary, he said, has an important role in creating that confidence without itself becoming the primary forum for conducting mediation.
“Our judiciaries need not mediate disputes themselves. We can encourage appropriate referrals and ensure that mediated settlements are effectively enforceable,” he said.
“The role of the judiciary is to create the conditions in which parties can approach mediation with confidence,” he added.
The CJI’s address placed mediation within the broader evolution of global commercial governance, where businesses increasingly operate across multiple jurisdictions and require dispute-resolution mechanisms that are predictable, efficient and capable of preserving commercial relationships.
He argued that the objective should not be to displace established adjudicatory institutions but to develop a complementary dispute-resolution architecture capable of responding to the diverse needs of international commerce.
Justice Surya Kant also invoked the historical traditions of consensual dispute resolution across BRICS jurisdictions. He referred to India’s Panchayat traditions and analogous concepts of harmony and conciliation embedded within the social and legal traditions of China, Brazil, Russia and South Africa.
These traditions, he suggested, provide a valuable foundation for strengthening contemporary mediation mechanisms.
Concluding his address, the CJI called upon BRICS members and partner countries to deepen cooperation in mediation so that disputes can be resolved through dialogue while commercial relationships and cross-border trust are preserved.
“Let us strengthen mediation so that dialogue can prevail, commerce can continue, and trust can grow across our BRICS Members and Partner Countries,” he said, before concluding with “Jai Hind.”
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