Prominent architect advocates arbitration in resolving disputes
Choose their own judges and permit choice of an expert in the field who is more able to view the dispute in its commercial setting.
“Arbitration allows the parties to keep private the details of their dispute, parties can choose their own rules or procedures except where the rules are specifically mentioned,” he said.
Other benefits are that there is greater scope of minimising acrimony between the parties, the costs can be kept low, the times and places of hearing can be chosen according to convenience of the parties.
“Delays often met in litigation are overcome. Time is money in the business world today,” Lukwaro said, adding: “The disadvantages are that the dispute may hinge on difficult points of law where the arbitrator may not have the requisite expert in which case the proceedings may be referred to court by way of case stated, and the doctrine of precedent does not apply. Each case is decided on its own merits and is, therefore, no guide to future similar cases.”
Because of these advantages arbitration presently continues to expand rapidly not only geographically but also in the area of law covered.
He says that there has also been a sharp increase the number of disputes referred to arbitration in several arbitral institutions. In 2009, for instance, the International Chambers of Commerce (ICC) of Paris received 817 requests for arbitration.
“This was an increase of 23 percent above the requests received in 2008. The American Arbitration Association had 836 requests, an increase of 19 percent: the London Court of International Arbitration realized an increase of 27 percent and the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) had an increase of 61 percent in the year, just to mention a few,” Lukwaro said.
He further said that was probably the reason why many practitioners today are turning to arbitration as their main area of practice and the reason why there is an increment in the number of laws making provisions for arbitration a method of resolving disputes.
Officiating at the meeting, the Arusha Regional Commissioner, Isdore Shirima, said the government would like to see all construction disputes solved through arbitration in a bid to avoid affecting nation economy.
Source The Guardian
