Institutional arbitration depends on the separation between the institution that administers a matter and the tribunal that decides it. This page sets out how Lex Arbitrate maintains that separation, who occupies each role, and the safeguards through which the institution remains accountable to the parties, to the supervisory court, and to the public interest in commercial dispute resolution.
1. The Centre
Lex Arbitrate is the institutional centre. The Centre is responsible for the Rulebook, Schedule I, the empanelment of arbitrators, the institutional clock, and the publication of Knowledge materials. The Centre does not act in any matter administered under its Rules.
2. The Registry
The Registry is the secretariat through which institutional communications issue. The Registry administers each matter from receipt of the Notice through issuance of the award. It applies, but does not interpret, the Rulebook. It scrutinises draft awards under Article 41 for form, arithmetic, internal consistency, and Rulebook compliance, but it does not review the Tribunal's reasoning on the merits.
3. The Tribunal
The Tribunal is the arbitrator or arbitrators appointed in the matter. The Tribunal decides the dispute. The Centre does not direct the Tribunal. The Registry communicates with the Tribunal as the institution does, not as a party.
4. The Empanelment
Empanelled arbitrators are individuals approved by the Centre to be appointed in matters under the Rulebook. Empanelment is by invitation, on professional criteria published by the Centre, with disclosure of conflicts and ongoing standing requirements. The empanelment list is not exhaustive: parties may appoint outside the empanelment under the Rulebook.
5. The Founder
Prashant Kumar Nair, Advocate-on-Record, Supreme Court of India, founded Lex Arbitrate. The Founder serves on the Centre's institutional governance, but does not act as arbitrator, mediator, or registry officer in any matter administered under the Rulebook unless an absolute necessity is recorded and the parties consent in writing.
6. Conflict separation
Lex Arbitrate maintains a written conflict-separation policy: the Founder and any institutional officer recuse from administration of matters in which they, their family, or any firm they are associated with, have an interest. Conflict declarations are recorded in the Article 38 institutional file.
7. Accountability
Each award issued under the Rulebook is published in anonymised form to the supervisory court for the seat of arbitration where the supervisory court so requires. The Centre publishes a Quarterly Digest summarising aggregate institutional data: caseload, mean and median timelines, set-aside rates, and amendments to the Rulebook.
8. Amendment of the Rulebook
The Rulebook is amended only by published version, with at least sixty days' notice and an effective-date stipulation. Amendments do not apply retroactively to matters already commenced unless every party to the matter consents in writing.
9. Compliance
The Centre operates under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, the Mediation Act, 2023, the Bar Council of India Rule 36 (institutional non-solicitation), the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.
Reviewed: 25 April 2026.