Promoting Research in International Arbitration; NLU Mumbai Launches an Open Access Online Journal

The legislature and courts in India are making consistent and systematic attempts to create an arbitration-friendly atmosphere. Though some policy decisions may be contentious, the intention and earnestness to promote arbitration in India cannot be doubted. The efforts of the state and judiciary are complemented by the mushroom growth of the arbitral institutions. However, this shift in momentum towards arbitration has found little support from the Indian academia. It is to fill this vacuum that Maharashtra National Law University (MNLU) Mumbai had set up Centre for Arbitration and Research (CAR) in the year 2019. CAR,  guided by its eminent advisory board, aims to assist the government in policy formulation, conduct cutting-edge research and organize training programs. Indian Review of International Arbitration (IRIArb) is one of the recent initiatives of CAR, to provide a platform for professionals, academia, and research scholars to share their work and experience in Indian arbitration. It aims to give a developing country perspective to the developments in the field of arbitration in the global north. However, at the same time, it also envisions to have reflections from other jurisdictions about India’s growing arbitration culture.

IRIArb wishes to facilitate reflection on these issues through its culturally, linguistically, geographically and demographically diverse advisory board and editorial board. Apart from the editor-in-chief, this journal comprises of 13 advisory board members and 40 editorial board members. 54 members of this journal’s board come from more than 20 jurisdictions including India, UAE, Dubai, the United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Bangladesh, Pakistan, China, the United States of America, Brazil, Italy, Hong Kong, Turkey, Germany, and Japan. IRIArb is the first arbitration journal of Indian origin that has an international focus and is edited by practitioners, academic and research scholars from around the globe.

The journal is also committed to maintaining gender diversity on its board. Presently, the editorial board comprises 22 males and 18 females whereas the advisory board has 9 males and 4 females. It aims to further reduce this gap.

The aim of IRIArb is to enhance access to education and research in international arbitration. Therefore, it follows an open access policy. All the publications are governed by CC BY-NC 4.0. license type. The online journal gives the flexibility to immediately publish accepted manuscripts. The volume number and issue number is allotted to such publications subsequently, drastically reducing the publication time. This is particularly important considering the fact that arbitration law is very fluid across all jurisdictions and changes very often.

IRIArb is determined to strive for excellence in the field of international arbitration and work towards publishing holistic, novel, and reader-friendly literature. The submission guidelines can be accessed here, and the submissions are accepted throughout the year on a rolling basis.

Chirag Balyan is the editor-in-chief of the Indian Review of International Arbitration. The queries can be addressed at iriarb@mnlumumbai.edu.in

Chirag Balyan

Chirag Balyan is the Coordinator, Centre for Arbitration & Research (CAR) and Assistant Professor of Law at Maharashtra National Law University Mumbai. He teaches courses on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and International Commercial Arbitration at University. He is the Founding Editor in Chief of Indian Review of International Arbitration. At…