Chief Justice Sir Brian Moree QC calling The Bahamas’ move toward becoming an international center for arbitration and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is not only important for the commercial life and economy of the country, but is also a critically important part of the administration of justice and the court system.
Sir Brian was a featured speaker alongside Minister of Financial Services, Trade and Industry and Immigration Elsworth Johnson during a CIArb Bahamas webinar entitled, “The Future of Alternative Dispute Resolution and the New Normal’.
Pointing to the high percentage of cases that never make it to trial, Sir Brian said an effective ADR regime is a necessary adjunct to any modern court structure.
“The reason for this is very simple. There is no court system in the world which is able to take to trial every case which is filed. It is physically impossible. It doesn’t matter which country you’re in, how large the country is or what resources you have. It is simply not a viable option for any court system to take every case to trial. And consequently, it is necessary – as an adjunct to the system in certain cases and in other times as an integral part of the court system – to provide alternative means of resolving disputes which will tick off a large volume of cases before they go to trial, thereby leaving the court system to deal with the remain cases,” he said.
“In many jurisdictions the percentage of cases which are commenced that actually go to trial vary anywhere from 20 to 40 percent on the data on which I have been given and which is available to me. In The Bahamas that number is much, much higher and that results in cases floundering in the system all too often and it does of course result in a backlog. I might add that backlogs are a problem for court systems all over the world.
“There is no court system I am aware of that doesn’t have a backlog, it’s just the degree of the backlog and in The Bahamas I am implementing a backlog reduction strategy which prior to Dorian and then COVID-19 was intended to reduce our backlog to an acceptable level within a period of about 36 months. I had to seriously review the backlog strategy in lieu of the COVID-19 pandemic in particular and the state of emergency which has existed since March of this year.”
The Bahamas stands to benefit from the multibillion-dollar industry once fully established, according to Minister Elsworth Johnson, who noted that arbitration and ADR is preferred over the court system in most jurisdictions.
Johnson said his ministry anticipates that this initiative to establish The Bahamas as a center for international arbitration and other ADR processes will result in The Bahamas becoming more attractive to international investors; and improvement of The Bahamas’ position as a leading offshore financial center; and the development of a new sub-industry that would positively affect trade and other commercial activities.
“We have recently completed our strategic plan, which sets out in detail the steps we will be taking to establish The Bahamas as a preferred arbitral seat,” noted Johnson. “The strategic plan, prepared by the ministry’s arbitration consultant, is structured as a two-year plan from 2020-2022. It introduces the purpose of the strategic plan, to establish The Bahamas a leading center for arbitration and alternative dispute resolution in the Americas.”
Johnson continued, “The strategic plan also sets out the rationale as to why The Bahamas is moving toward establishing itself as a center for international arbitration and ADR is worthwhile endeavor. For instance, we have observed that international arbitration has become an important tool of economic development, which some have argued is directly related to the increase of economic growth through foreign direct investment. For example, the combined value of international arbitrations which take place in London in any given year has been recorded as at $40 billion to $50 billion, significantly contributing to the income of legal and dispute resolution service providers as well as the wider service economy in London.
“Moreover, this rationale is supported by data collected in surveys and case studies for other centers for international arbitration, which indicate that international arbitration is the preferred dispute mechanism by over 99 percent of law firms, in-house council and other multinational entities. We know that ADR is the future.”
Johnson said his ministry is currently revising the existing ADR legislative framework to ensure that the law reflects the best international and industry standards.
The post Chief justice: ADR critical to economy and administration of justice appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/chief-justice-adr-critical-to-economy-and-administration-of-justice/
No comments:
Post a Comment