New Delhi : The Department of Legal Affairs under the Ministry of Law and Justice will host the BRICS Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) and the BRICS Justice Ministers’ Meeting (JMM) in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, as part of India’s BRICS Chairship for 2026.
The Senior Officials’ Meeting will be held on May 19 and 20, followed by the Justice Ministers’ Meeting from May 21 to 22. India will chair the BRICS Justice Ministers’ Meeting this year.
The meetings will bring together representatives from BRICS member nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — to discuss strengthening cooperation in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), particularly in the fields of mediation and arbitration.
According to the Ministry of Law and Justice, the Senior Officials’ Meeting will focus on institutional mediation, arbitration reforms and the growing role of ADR mechanisms in resolving commercial and public-sector disputes. Delegates will also review ADR-centric legal reforms adopted across BRICS nations to reduce case backlogs and ensure timely and cost-effective dispute resolution.
The Justice Ministers’ Meeting will provide a ministerial-level platform to adopt a Joint Statement on ADR-led Cooperation within the BRICS framework. The proposed declaration is expected to outline commitments on sharing best practices, strengthening institutional capacity and promoting collaborative initiatives such as training programmes, model rules and digital dispute-resolution platforms.
The meetings are aimed at enhancing dialogue and cooperation among BRICS nations on mediation and arbitration through exchange of policy approaches, institutional experiences and legal expertise. Discussions will also focus on strengthening court-referred and pre-litigation mediation, promoting cooperation among arbitration centres and mediation institutions, and leveraging digital technologies to improve access and efficiency in dispute resolution.
The participating countries are also expected to deliberate on cross-border commercial disputes, comparative legal studies and harmonisation of laws related to trade and environmental issues. Capacity-building initiatives for mediators, arbitrators, judges, government legal officers and legal professionals will also be a key focus area.
The government said the selection of Gandhinagar as the venue reflects the city’s growing importance as a hub for international legal and multilateral engagements under India’s BRICS Chairship.
The meetings will include plenary sessions and bilateral interactions aimed at developing concrete cooperation initiatives, institutional partnerships and capacity-building projects. The outcomes will be consolidated in a declaration titled “Strengthening Alternative Dispute Resolution through Capacity Building in Mediation and Arbitration.”