Preservation of Biodiversity & Jallikattu

Readers would be well aware of the recent massive protests in Tamil Nadu regarding the banning of Jallikattu and the subsequent events consequential to the protests, such as the promulgation of the Ordinance allowing Jallikattu and the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly passing of a Bill replacing the Jallikattu Ordinance. News reports indicate that certain petitioners have approached the Supreme Court seeking relief against the Ordinance and the Bill. 

One of the threads of arguments put forth by certain experts well-versed with Jallikattu and breeding of animals seems to be that Jallikattu promotes native breeding of cows and also leads to preservation of animal biodiversity. The argument seems to be that the bull which “wins” in the Jallikattu is considered as the strongest among bulls and is treated as the common heritage of the village. It also appears that the said bull is allowed to mate with cows in the village thereby producing healthy second generation of those cows. Whether this is true or not is a matter for experts on veterinary science and village socio cultural practices to comment upon. On paper, this argument seems compelling. A few recent news reports dealing with this aspect can be found here here and here.

From a perusal of the 2014 [Animal Welfare Board of India v. A. Nagaraja & Ors. (2014) 7 SCC 547] and the 2016 [Chief Secretary to the Govt., Chennai Tamilnadu and Ors. v. Animal Welfare Board and Ors. 2016 (12) SCALE 334] judgements of the Supreme Court on Jallikattu ban, it appears that the said argument (preservation of native cow breeds) was never brought to the Hon’ble Court’s attention. As to why, there could be several reasons. One of the reasons cited has been the lack of awareness of this aspect of rural practices among the mainstream population and the lack of available scientific studies documenting it. Further, it has also been argued that those who are aware of these practices could neither approach the High Court/ Supreme Court nor create awareness among others owing to their lack of economic strength.

The lack of detailed arguments before the Supreme Court (going by the judgements) on the issue is surprising considering news reports on the subject even as early as in 2014 (see here). There were a few reports even before the 2016 judgements (See the BBC report cited above and this news report)

Whether these arguments are actually true or not is for the Supreme Court to determine. Nevertheless, when far-reaching issues such as preservation of biodiversity, rural economic, socio-cultural practices, access to justice are raised, Hon’ble Supreme Court ought to deeply delve on the issues and pass judgements.

Another aspect of the matter is the statistics cited in the 2014 judgement relating to cruelty towards animals. It is well known to those well-versed with statistics is that the numbers game is dangerous in that it is extraordinarily difficult to examine the correctness of statistical data. Therefore, it is humbly submitted that whenever such studies and statistical data are relied upon, it is important to the said data to be made public and invite comments on the correctness thereof. Statistical data might, prima facie, appear forceful but there are innumerable possibilities that the statistical data and the inferences may be erroneous. [See, for instance the "elegantly” titled article by Paul F. Velleman “Truth, Damn Truth, and Statistics”, Journal of Statistics Education Volume 16, Number 2 (2008)] on the issue. Judges have to be careful about statistical data. The inferences sought to be made in statistical studies produced in courts should not only satisfy judges but should satisfy rigorous statistical standards of replication, randomization, proper sampling and others. 

Taking this issue in a larger context, it could be explored if data and studies submitted in litigation having large-scale impact on the country (such as the Jallikattu ban judgements and other PILs) represent only one side of the story or tend obfuscate truth. Unlike in typical adversarial litigation, it is possible that in PILs, studies presenting comprehensive facts / data may not be forthcoming, especially if comprehensive facts/ data are not available with the Government, in which case, the courts should tread with extreme caution. For instance, this blogger does not think that Secretaries of the State of Tamil Nadu or the Union of India was very well aware of the biodiversity related issues associates with Jallikattu (assuming this aspect was not brought to the court's knowledge).

In the context of Jallikattu, if the native breeding of cows arguments is true, then it would be in the interest of the country that the native breeds are preserved. For this purpose, it could make sense to allow Jallikattu albeit in a heavily regulated form. the larger challenge is, however, ensuring preservation of the local biodiversity.

(Edited after posting)

Empirical Findings in International Arbitration: Part I

Christopher R Drahozal has come up with a paper titled "Empirical Findings on International Arbitration: An Overview". For those uninitiated, Drahozal has been writing a lot about empirical analysis in International Arbitration, including especially the book he co-edited with Richard W. Naimark titled "Towards a Science of International Arbitration: Collected Empirical Research" (2005). The book surveys the empirical literature on the subject and was published a decade ago to an international arbitration audience who found it very interesting especially because of the lack of empirical findings on the subject, primarily owing to arbitration being a private and a confidential affair.

In the paper referred above, Drahozal gives an overview of some important inferences in international arbitration. In the process of doing so, he also critiques certain empirical surveys. We've been stressing on empirical research in arbitration for quite some time (see here, for instance). This two-series post quotes/ paraphrases some important findings cited in the paper and is hoped that this would be a fillip to those interested in embarking on empirical international arbitration research.

Prominence of Use of Arbitration in International Contracts

The data on the use of arbitration in international contracts is not comprehensive to provide a definitive conclusion on the prominence of arbitration clauses in such contracts. A work by Eisenberg & Miller tends to focus on specific agreements and inference derived therefrom cannot be generalised for reasons stated in the paper.

Reasons why Parties Agree to Arbitrate

Parties' preference of arbitration over litigation may depend on the types of contract. Certain agreements such as international merger agreements, international credit commitments agreements may not contain arbitration clauses as much as other agreements for specific reasons. 

Frequency of International Arbitration Proceedings

The data on the number of references to arbitrations is incomplete since they do not include ad hoc arbitrations, or comprehensively cover all arbitral institutions. At times, they take into account even domestic arbitrations. Further,there is no baseline comparison to qualitatively evaluate the references to arbitration. On the other hand, there has been a growth in the number of investor-State arbitrations. 

Costs in International Arbitration

An ICC survey has reported the following costs breakup based on a sample of 221 arbitral awards:

• Party costs- lawyers' fees and expenses, expert and other witnesses' expenses and other party incurred costs- 83%
• arbitrators' fee- 15%
• Case administration- 2%

The figures on attorney fees in investor-State arbitration is startling 😈.  average claimants' costs is approximately USD 44,37,000/- and average respondents' cost is USED 45,59,000/- and the average tribunal costs is USD 7,46,000 (that is, 7.7% of the total costs).

Length of Arbitral Proceedings

The length connotes the time between filing and award. In ICSID arbitration the average time taken for the publication of arbitral award after the final hearing is 379 days. 

Time taken for Investor-State arbitration under UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules- 1446 days

Time taken for Investor-State arbitration under ICSID arbitration- 1381 days

(Does this debunk the theory that ad hoc arbitration is considerably slower?- food for thought!)

Drahozal seems to compare time taken in investor state arbitration with commercial arbitration administered by arbitral institutions (p. 13). Such a comparison may not be correct. 

Duration of LCIA arbitration

• Sole arbitrator tribunal- 18.5 months
• Three member tribunal-21 months.

Duration of SIAC Arbitration

• Sole arbitrator- 13 months
• Three member tribunal- 15.3 months

Duration of Stockholm Chamber of Commerce Arbitration

Sole arbitrator- 10.9 months

Three member tribunal- 19 months

Size of Arbitral Tribunal: Approximately half of the ICA involve sole arbitrator. 

Multi-Party Proceedings: ICC has reported that about 34% of the ICC Arbitration in 2015 involved multiple parties.

Use of Emergency Arbitrators

ICDR- 67 requests

SIAC- 50 requests

ICC- 34 requests

However, it appears that many parties prefer national courts for interim/ emergency relief.

Part II will address the rest of the paper. Happy reading!