Fifty-one new arbitrators on June 17 were officially sworn in to form part of the Malta Arbitration's Centre domestic panels of arbitrators. The panels were extended to include a Traffic Collisions Panel, a Co-operative Societies Panel and a Condominium Panel.
The ceremony followed a half-day seminar as part of the ongoing education requirements for all panel members. The seminar was attended by Dr Mark Appel, senior vice-president, ICDR-American Arbitration Association, who discussed the benefits and use of arbitration as a dispute resolution mechanism in smaller type disputes.
This is the second published list of domestic arbitration panel members who expressed an interest in acting as arbitrators and were considered appropriately qualified. Other arbitrators will be added to the panels as they complete educational programmes on arbitration.
Traffic Collisions Panel. Dr Clarence Busuttil, Dr Mark Chetcuti, Dr Ruth Scott, Mr J.L. Spencer, Ing. Raymond Spiteri
Co-operative Societies Panel. George Farrugia, Austin J. Walker, Dr Antoine Naudi, Professor Edward Zammit
Maritime Panel. Ing. Carmel Cutajar, Dr Ann Fenech
General Civil/Commercial Panel. Dr Tonio Azzopardi, Dr Michael Frendo, Dr Richard Galea Debono, Dr Roberta Gauci, Dr Austin Sammut
Banking and Finance/Financial Accounting Taxation Panel. Carmel J. Delicata
Insurance Panel. John Galdes
Building Construction/Condominium Panel. Dr Joseph Cachia Fearne, Philip Grech, Joseph Ellul Vincenti, Anthony V. Stivala, William Soler
Condominium Panel. Godwin P. Abela, Martin Attard Montalto, Dr Joseph P. Bonnici, Dr Kris Borg, Wilfred Borg, Joseph Briffa, Denis H. Camilleri, Patrick Camilleri, Ondre Camilleri Gaglione, Dr Mario Caruana, Anthony Cassar, Joseph A. Delia, Dr Tonio Ellul, Dr Louise Ellul Cachia Caruana, Anthony Fenech Vella, Catherine Galea, Dr Anna Mallia, David Pace, Paul Saliba, Nicholas Sammut Tagliaferro, Dr Joseph Spiteri, Mariello Spiteri, Dr Joseph Tabone, Dr Conrad Thake, Dr Louis G. Vella, Joseph J. Xuereb, Godwin Zammit, Dr Remigio Zammit Pace.
Development and use of arbitration process
Arbitration is the process by which a difference among parties as to their mutual legal rights is referred and determined with binding effect by an arbitral tribunal instead of a court. Arbitration offers something which is not necessarily obtained in the courts, it saves time and money, keeps relationships going and is legally binding.
Arbitration is today a well-established dispute resolution process which is regularly used to resolve both commercial and international disputes. At its heart is the cardinal principle of party autonomy and well-crafted rules of procedure, according to which parties enjoy wide latitude in structuring their arbitration agreements so as to suit their particular needs.
Procedural guidelines
The Malta Arbitration Centre has published guidelines on the basis of the experience gained by the centre from the first few arbitrations carried out under the new Arbitration Act which came into force in 2000.
The guidelines highlight two basic facts, firstly that a preliminary meeting must take place as soon as the arbitration is filed in order to deal with all preliminary matters and set a timetable and secondly that the registrar can establish time limits in advance of an arbitrator being appointed and therefore get the process going straightaway.
"Arbitrations under the old law seemed to progress very slowly with awards being granted years after commencement. Appointments of arbitrators were treated as though they were appointments by the courts of referees, written and oral submissions followed the exact procedures applied in court proceedings before referees and there was no external pressure on anyone to be effective", according to Dr Max Ganado, MAC chairman.
It is therefore no surprise that such a negative perception exists about arbitration. The MAC is taking all the necessary measures to overcome resistance to arbitration not only by promoting a greater educational awareness about the current proceedings and advantages of using arbitration but also by making sure that a competent panel of arbitrators can effectively assist parties in line with guidelines for arbitrators so as to ensure that the goals of the centre are achieved in the interest of parties who seek a fast, binding and cost effective dispute resolution process.
The centre is fully committed to making sure that court practices are not reflected in the MAC's arbitration management systems and while the rights to a fair hearing are considered imperative the proceedings must remain informal.
Training and seminars
The MAC is continually providing educational activities to ensure that arbitrators are offered the opportunity to receive ongoing training. The centre has also published the first issue of MAC Newsletter featuring news on arbitration, educational articles, education and training opportunities, an international section and lists of domestic and international arbitration panel members.
This year the MAC has offered four qualifying modules as supplementary learning requirements to the two-day introductory course in arbitration organised by the MITC. These modules include Arbitration Guidelines (Dr Max Ganado), Costs in Arbitration (Dr Andrea Carlevaris), Award Writing (Dr Mark Appel) and Arbitration Agreements (Dr Tonio Fenech).
The June 17 seminar, held in collaboration with the American Arbitration Association, was organised for all those forming part of the Arbitration Centre's panels in traffic collisions, condominia and co-operative societies.
The seminar was officially inaugurated by Dr Austin Gatt, Minister of Justice and Local Government, and followed by group workshops led by Professor Godfrey Baldacchino for co-operative societies, Dr Simon Micallef Stafrace for traffic collisions and Dr Sylvana Spiteri for condominia. Dr Appel facilitated the workshops and discussed the use and benefits of arbitration in smaller-type disputes.
This year's introductory course in arbitration offered by the UK Chartered Institute of Arbitrators is scheduled for September 16 and 17. Two further specialist courses in construction and financial/accounting services are being offered on September 18.
Interested applicants are to confirm their registration to the MITC as early as possible info@mitcentre.com
Trade and arbitration
Arbitration is important to the business community mainly because cases are heard and decided in a relatively short time, awards are legally binding and have the force of a court judgment, strict confidentiality is exercised throughout the arbitral process, expenses are lower than those payable in connection with court cases and arbitrators of the parties' choice may be appointed.
A two-hour seminar in conjunction with METCO, entitled "Trade and Arbitration", was inaugurated by George Hyzler, Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry for Economic Services, on June 14. Other members of the panel included Dr Appel (AAA), Dr Andrea Carlevaris (ICC, Paris), Dr Max Ganado and Dr Anton Micallef (METCO).
The seminar explored how the business community uses arbitration to resolve commercial disputes arising in the global marketplace and highlighted the importance of inserting arbitration clauses as a risk management factor against future disputes when writing agreements.
The Malta Arbitration Centre encourages commercial organisations to adopt a dispute resolution policy when writing agreements by inserting an arbitration clause, a copy of which is available at the centre (Palazzo Laparelli, 33, South Street, Valletta).