The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

THE world will not wait for The Bahamas to end “20 years of talk” and establish an international arbitration centre, a top QC said yesterday, with other jurisdictions having already bypassed it.

Brian Moree, QC, senior partner at McKinney, Bancroft and Hughes, told a Chartered Institute of Arbitrators luncheon that entering this industry was far more complex than simply “build it and they will come”.

He said: “We in The Bahamas have been talking about an arbitration centre for about 20 years, and it may even go back further than that. The world does not wait for us to debate, talk, discuss and meet.

“Similarly, the world doesn’t stop every time the Government changes. There has to be a national policy that survives successive governments. The new government doesn’t have to dismantle all the efforts of the previous government; they have to learn to build on those efforts.”

Mr Moree added: “We really have to accept that the time to act is now. We really have to accept that from the time we have been talking about arbitration centres we have probably had, and I’m being conservative, eight to ten new arbitration centres that are operating successfully within their regions. That means the competition is much greater today than it was ten, 15 or 20 years ago.

“I agree that this is not a case of you build it and they will come. You have to have all of the pieces of the puzzle together, and then you have to get out there and sell it. There is little dispute to my knowledge of this issue that it would be beneficial to The Bahamas to have an international arbitration centre. This has not been a policy debate. It’s frustrating when you accept that fact and look at the progress that has been made or not made.”

Ryan Pinder,a former financial services minister, now a Graham, Thompson & Company attorney and partner, added: “It is not about building it and they will come. I think building it is the easiest, and getting them to come, is the most easiest step. We have to focus on specialisations that we are known for and good at, and then work to build the specialisation of arbitrators and the judiciary in those areas.”

Mr Pinder said there was not only opportunity for The Bahamas to offer arbitration in the maritime industry, but also the financial services sector. “We hear all the time about doom and gloom related to financial services, but that is good for arbitration,” he said.

“We have seen, at Graham Thompson, disputes and adversarial positions within the financial services industry. I think we have to focus both on specialty areas of our offering but also specialty areas where we can provide a service. We shouldn’t be all things to everyone; we should be very specialised with what we have to offer.”

Retired Supreme Court Justice, Rubie Nottage, added that many parties are opting for arbitration over court battles because of privacy and concerns that judges lacked the “specialisation” and understanding of various fields to properly adjudicate their matters.

“This perceived loss of commercial litigation in a national court system has serious consequences for the national economy and the justice system,” she said. “The consequences are such that, in truth, arbitration, even though it continues to grow, the courts are likely to be faced with fewer civil suits. Therefore there is less ability to shape future law within a jurisdiction. This is a major situation that we should consider; that our law on commercial matters becomes less in depth.”