International arbitration is less about speed and cost and more about trust and enforceability: Lucy Reed

International arbitration is less about speed and cost and more about trust and enforceability, said Lucy Reed, President of the Court of Arbitration at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), in the city on Saturday.

Reed was addressing the audience of legal professionals and students at the second NLSIU-SIAC Annual Arbitration Lecture held at the Bangalore International Centre, Domlur.

The lecture was jointly organised by the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru, and the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC).

In her lecture titled Five Things You Think You Know About Arbitration, But You Don’t, Reed drew on her four decades of experience to debunk myths surrounding arbitration, offering insights, especially pertinent to the arbitration landscape.

Contrary to common belief, Reed said, parties prefer arbitration over litigation not for speed or lower cost but to avoid perceived risks in foreign courts —corruption, diverse legal systems, or even fear of the unknown.

She also warned that winning an arbitration award is no guarantee of enforcement, citing the Devas vs Republic of India case, where enforcement battles over a $560 million award have stretched across jurisdictions for nearly 20 years, highlighting issues of sovereign immunity despite the protections seemingly offered by the New York Convention. While the New York Convention obligates countries to recognize and enforce foreign arbitral awards, it does not override sovereign immunity laws — which protect states from having their assets seized easily.

Touching on procedural realities, Reed, pointed out that the flexibility often associated with arbitration has, in practice, led to excessive delays and voluminous submissions. She urged arbitrators to manage proceedings more firmly to maintain efficiency — an area of growing concern in India, where ad hoc arbitration remains dominant.

Concluding on a personal note, Reed said the glamour of international arbitration is often overstated. “International commercial arbitration is less about glamour and more about intense focus, discipline, and the satisfaction of working across diverse sectors and legal systems,” she said.