THE WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF ARBITRATORS

Arbitrators

Arbitrators make legally enforceable decisions known as awards to resolve disputes.  They may be appointed by the disputants themselves or by a person or body named in the underlying contract between them.  Those who practise as arbitrators will in all probability have or have had at least one preceding career, within the professions or in industry, especially commodities, construction and insurance. 

Many members of the Worshipful Company of Arbitrators are also members of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, which has its headquarters in London but which also has many branches world-wide, including Bahrain, East Asia, Europe, Republic of Ireland and Nigeria where the Lord Mayor will be travelling in 2008. 

The Chartered Institute is one of the premier bodies in the world for training and regulating the conduct of arbitrators.  Many members of the Company will also have had experience of other types of dispute resolution, such as litigation, mediation and adjudication, the latter taking off in the last decade as a speedy (and therefore relatively inexpensive) means of resolving disputes in the construction industry.

World Class and Fit for the Future

■ Arbitration is an alternative to litigation.  London has enjoyed an enviable reputation for arbitration over the years.  Whilst the parties to an arbitration agreement are largely left to decide for themselves how the arbitration proceeds, there is a statutory framework embodied in the Arbitration Act 1996 within which they must work.  Where the parties have agreed in their contract to use arbitration to deal with their disputes the Courts will usually enforce that agreement in preference to continuing with any litigation.

■ Moreover, the House of Lords ruled in a recent landmark case that the arbitration clause in a contract alleged by the respondent to have been entered into as a consequence of bribery was enforceable even if the remaining terms were not.  A respondent could not therefore defeat an investigation by the appointed arbitrators into whetherthe underlying contract should be enforced by alleging that the contract was indeed void or voidable.  In short the courts in England support rather than undermine arbitration as a means of dispute resolution.

Key issues

■ Key issues in the world of arbitration at the present time are whether the balance between party autonomy and Court intervention is the correct one, how multi-party disputes can be best managed, how those engaged in arbitration might learn from other means of dispute resolution and how the standards of arbitrators and London's reputation as an international centre for excellence in this field can be maintained (if not enhanced) in the years ahead.

Contact: Karl Davies at karldavies@btinternet.com