Planning big ticket investments in India, China has evinced a keen interest in understanding the legal system here amid concerns expressed by foreign investors over delays in settling legal disputes.
A Chinese delegation led by its Justice Minister Wu Aiying has met Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda with an offer to sign MoUs with India on various aspects of law.
"They have suggested some MoUs...They want to have mutual cooperation on various legal issues," Gowda told PTI.
One of the areas where the two countries want to interact is alternate dispute resolution system in place in the two countries. "Settlement of cases at the pre-litigation stage helps in reducing pendency," he said.
The Chinese delegation met Gowda and top Law Ministry officials here yesterday.
In order to attract maximum foreign investment, the government has amended the Arbitration Act to make it mandatory for a judge presiding over commercial disputes to settle cases within nine months, thereby giving a positive signal to the international business community.
The proposed amendments to the 1996 law are aimed at giving a message that settling commercial disputes in India will no longer be a time-consuming affair.
There are also plans to set up commercial benches in High Courts of metro cities to take up high value commercial disputes.
Legal aid and administration of lawyers is another area China is keen to study.
He said before a final decision is taken on MoUs, New Delhi would like to carry out certain studies on the subjects and may include exchange of legal teams.
Beijing has also shown keenness on the issue of how India manages convicted prisoners. But since the issue falls in the domain of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the matter is being referred there.
India, on the other hand, wants to have a closer look at the Chinese criminal justice system.
Gowda said while the two systems are different, the Chinese rate of disposal of cases is high. "There are less delays also," he said.
Seeking to woo Chinese investment as part of its 'Make In India' campaign, government plans to aggressively encourage Chinese companies set up their manufacturing units here.
