SKOCH India Law Forum (ILF) is an independent platform for change-makers, committed to bringing about a transformative change to the nation through law and legal reform. For 2022, ILF seeks to bring together India’s leading legal luminaries, the government, the judiciary, practitioners of law and the legal fraternity, at the intersection of law and life. While most law forums, which are rare in India, focus on legal practice or legislation, ILF 22 will focus on the impact of law and legislation on businesses and individuals. This is an attempt to understand the impact of law on real life and the aim is to improve the outcomes through dialogue, debate and deliberations.
The forum will look to make recommendations that can increase access to justice and improve the rule of law through proper enforcement. We will look to instigate a positive transformation in India through legal reform by having enriching discussions and debates with actionable outcomes. If India is to become a developed country by 2047, what kind of a judicial system will take us there? What kind of changes will be needed in the current legal and legislative systems to ensure proper enforcement that will actually benefit the citizens.
The forum is being organized by SKOCH Group, which has been organizing India’s leading dialogues across areas of governance, public administration, financial, digital & social inclusion, bringing together India’s leading public intellectuals, domain experts, captains of industry and doyens of their respective fields, to ideate and deliberate on transformative change for India’s economic and social growth and development since 1997. The SKOCH motto of “Growth, Livelihoods and Equity” has been the guiding light in all areas of deliberation and research, with deep focus on creating lasting impact, upward mobility and empowerment for those at the last mile, and the last in the queue.
India Law Forum 2022 is being organized with the understanding that law is fundamental to shaping the India of tomorrow and improving access to justice for everyone. ILF will be the bridge between law (government, lawyers & courts) and life (corporate and individuals) that will be needed to achieve uniform growth across different regions, sectors and industries.
India Law Forum 2022 will focus on four topically relevant tracks, pertaining to major legal developments in the country that warrant a high quality & exhaustive discussion.
Law & Ease of Doing Business: India has been constantly improving its record on the measuring yardstick of ease of doing business. That being said there is a lot that still remains to be done. For example, India incurs a large cost every year because of delays in major infrastructure projects and the legal complexities associated with such delays. The presence of an effective arbitration and mediation mechanism can reduce the legal pressures that businesses in India face leading to monetary loss and contractual delays. The Union Government has taken steps to make India a hub for arbitration matters. Questions that need to be addressed include what measures can be taken to ensure that that India’s domestic arbitration environment becomes robust and how can institutional arbitration and mediation mechanisms in India be strengthened to enhance the ease of doing business.
Digital Economy & Law: The Government of India has set a target to achieve a $5 trillion digital economy by 2025. The growth in constituent sectors of the digital economy such as online payments, fintech, social media, cryptocurrencies and gaming has been exponential in recent times. The rise of these sectors also presents new and complex legal challenges. Some fundamental questions need to be answered to engineer consensus on how can law tackle the complexities presented by these new-age businesses and commercial activities. There is a need to discuss what can be the limits of The Union Government while legislating on businesses that operate primarily in the realm of technology? Are the IT act and Data protection bill sufficiently equipped to deal with the challenges presented by the omnipresence of technology?
Climate Change and Law: India potentially faces severe impact of climate change in terms of rising sea levels and extreme weather events such as floods and droughts. The poor and the marginalised will bear the harshest brunt of climate change events leading to financial and livelihood loss. India does not have dedicated climate change legislation currently. Taking cognisance of this threat, Govt. of India and industry alike have made strong commitments to clean energy. The recently announced Green Carbon policy is a significant step towards India’s vision of becoming carbon neutral by 2070. Complimenting the governments vision are significant investments in green carbon announced by India’s leading business conglomerates. These significant developments raise some key questions that need to be discussed: Are the existing laws dealing with different aspects of climate change comprehensive enough to deal with the emerging realities. If not, what does the future of climate change legislation in India look like?
LITFest: The India Law Forum LitFest is being organised along with the India Law Forum. It has been our earnest effort at SKOCH Group to showcase, discuss and debate the biggest ideas featured in the best publications by the nation’s brightest minds at the SKOCH LitFest.
Some of the books being featured at the intersection of law and life include:
- From the Trenches by Abhishek Manu Singhvi
- My World Within by Kapil Sibal
- Trials of Truth by Pinky Anand
- The Man & The Judge & A Venkatachaliah Reader by Sudhish Pai
- India that is Bharat: Coloniality, Civilisation, Constitution by J Sai Deepak
- Taxpayer Rights Deciphering the Indian Charter by Mukesh Bhutani & Kinshuk Jha