India, July 26 -- Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant on Saturday said that present-day arbitration is starting to look like the very court process it was meant to replace, flagging delays in awards and proceedings extending into multi-day hearings and heavy documentation.

"We now see multi-day hearings. We see heavy document production modelled on common law discovery. We see competing experts on every point. And we see awards that take years, not months.Arbitration is starting to look like the very court process it was meant to replace," he said.

He produced the latest data by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) to illustrate the long delays in arbitral disputes that take an average of 26 months to reach a final award. The...