The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas must take “serious corrective action” to improve its “disgraceful” 118th ease of doing business ranking, a former Bar Association chief arguing that poor dispute resolution was a key factor.

Dr Peter Maynard, managing partner of Peter D Maynard Counsel & Attorneys, told Tribune Business: “One of the reasons why we’re ranked 118th is because we don’t resolve disputes effectively.

“If we’re going to move from that disgraceful status we need to take some serious corrective action. No business person wants to come to a place where things get drawn out for long periods of time and they can’t get their disputes resolved.”

The Bahamas currently ranks 118th out of 190 countries on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business indicator, a one-spot improvement over the prior year. This nation ranks 84th with regards to enforcing contracts, with the index “measuring the time and cost for resolving a commercial dispute through a local first-instance court, and the quality of judicial processes index, evaluating whether each economy has adopted a series of good practices that promote quality and efficiency in the court system”.

Dr Maynard, who is hosting the seventh annual Arbitration & Investment Summit this Friday at the Baha Mar convention centre, said the event will explore various issues relating to the practice.

“The bottom line is how easy is it to get a project up and going and continuing. The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators have drafted a new Construction Adjudication Bill for The Bahamas,” said Dr Maynard.

The ability to resolve commercial disputes in a timely, cost-effective manner is a key factor in determining where mobile international businesses and capital decide to locate. Establishing a properly-functioning international arbitration centre in The Bahamas would thus enhance this nation’s competitiveness and attraction, given that investors would have an efficient, private resolution mechanism that avoids going through the courts.

Companies throughout the world are increasingly inserting arbitration/alternative dispute resolution (ADR) clauses in commercial contracts in a bid to resolve disputes without resorting to expensive, time-consuming legislation.

Dr Maynard told Tribune Business he still advocates against this nation having two separate arbitration regimes. “The good news is that the International Commercial Arbitration Act has provision for a centre. I’m suggesting that the centre be at a neutral place, like the University of The Bahamas, supported by government and NGOs,” he said.

“We need to marshal the resources to do that. There is still this question of sending resources in two different directions. My view is let’s get it right the first time, so you should amalgamate. Others take the view that something is better than nothing. I’ve never looked at it that way. If we can do better let’s do better.”