Fali Nariman (1929 – 2024)

It is with great sadness that we mark the passing of ICCA Advisory Board Member and Honorary President Fali Nariman on 21 February 2024 at the age of 95.

Mr. Nariman was a well-known and deeply respected Indian jurist and arbitrator whose history with ICCA dates back to the nineteen-eighties. Mr. Nariman was a long-standing Member of the ICCA leadership body; he joined the ICCA Council (as it was then known) in 1985, was ICCA President from 1994 – 2002, later becoming an ICCA Honorary President, and serving as a Member of the ICCA Advisory Board. 

In addition to leading ICCA as its President for 8 years, Mr. Nariman also contributed to ICCA’s publications; he provided content for the Yearbook Commercial Arbitration, was the author of the National Report on India for the International Handbook on Commercial Arbitration, and presented papers at numerous ICCA Congresses, which were published in the ICCA Congress Series. 

Fellow ICCA Past-President and long-time friend and colleague, Jan Paulsson remembers Mr Nariman as “small in stature, yet a giant in spirit”. Prof. Paulsson added “a single man is gone – and suddenly the world feels colder, emptier, less forgiving. We are orphaned, until we stop to think what he would tell us now: ‘If I have meant anything to you, it is that I will never leave you’.” 

Away from ICCA, Mr. Nariman was well known for his contribution to international arbitration, and was a towering figure in Indian legal practice. He was a Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of India since 1971 and a former President of the Bar Association of India from 1991 - 2010. 

We know that you will join ICCA in celebrating the remarkable life and accomplishments of Mr. Nariman. His contribution to ICCA and the field of international arbitration was invaluable. He will be sorely missed.