Abstract

In the era of globalization, there arose a surge in the privatization of commercial sectors, while liberalizing access to domestic and foreign markets. In time, the globalization phenomenon led to the privatization of a multitude of sectors in addition to the commercial arena, including the field of judicial institutions. Accompanying this intense growth of trade and communication, it has become indispensable to harmonize and unify the political and economic forces of a trans-national community by way of implementing legal institutional mechanisms that prescribe for the preservation of interests and concurrently the resolution of surfacing disputes to maintain transparency, peace, and harmony amongst the countries. A legal mechanism that gained acclaim and prevalence to achieve the same in a judicial context was the practice of arbitration. Arbitration is not limited to disputes strictly between individual countries or individual parties but is rather a remarkable blend of the two. It makes definitive provisions for providing the choice of representatives while remaining cost-efficient, time-bound, and bestows efficient resolutions while being mindful towards protecting the rights of the parties involved to a satisfactory extent. The institution of arbitration yet remains flawed and inaccessible even with its rising popularity. This paper is an attempt by the author to identify the imperfections of arbitration as a dispute resolution mechanism, nevertheless throwing light at its significance in the era of liberalization, privatization, and globalization, and observing the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had upon the same.

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