The BRICS Centres of Dispute Resolution: causes, state of the art, and prospects

The idea of an enhanced cooperation and exchange of knowledge and best practices among its member states in the fields of trade, commerce, and investments -among others- is at the heart of BRICS. In fact, intra-BRICS trade has nearly tripled over the last decade, supported by an increase in intra-regional trade for all member countries. Thanks to their influential and remarkable progress in promoting local currency (for de-dollarisation purposes), regional FDI, and regional trade, the BRICS economies have emerged and have taken a new space in the twenty-first century. This reinforced one of the core objectives pursued by BRICS which is that of enhancing the five developing economies’ role in global governance; a role that should finally display their newly acquired economic and financial weight. To achieve such a new world economic order, it is critical to remove barriers not only to trade and investments but also to the resolution of commercial and investments disputes. A dedicated forum that considers the unique characteristics of the BRICS nations would ensure a faster, more effective, and efficient resolution of such disputes. This is no breaking news to the BRICS legal forum, which has been dealing with the project of establishing a BRICS dedicated dispute resolution centre since 2015. This short article investigates the very reasons that lie behind the choice of creating an alternative BRICS centre for dispute resolution, as well as the many challenges it will have to face and the necessary steps for the centre to make in order to work properly, serve its purpose and be successful, in a market already dominated by several and well-established arbitral institutions