Arbitration Bill Working Party

The Arbitration (Scotland) Bill was introduced to Parliament on 29 January 2009 and a special short-life working party was set up to consider the provisions of the Bill.

The Society fully supports the government's aim to make arbitration cheaper and more cost effective. With a clear and modern set of arbitration rules, Scotland has the potential to become an attractive forum for arbitration, for both domestic and international business.

With this aim in mind, overall, the Society welcomed the Bill. However, the working party expressed some concern over aspects of the legislation. In particular, the Society questioned whether removing the UNCITRAL model law, which is used worldwide, was the most effective way of attracting international arbitration.
Law Society of Scotland's response to the Scottish Government's consultation on an Arbitration Bill (October 2008).

The working party submitted its written evidence on 15 May to the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee. In the evidence, the working party repeated its view that parties must remain free to adopt the UNCITRAL model law if they so wish. The evidence also suggested a number of areas where further consideration may be needed in order to achieve a clear and fair set of arbitration rules.

The working party was also invited to submit supplementray written evidence in light of other evidence received by the committee.

1. Law Society of Scotland's Written Evidence to Arbitration Bill (May 2009)
2. Law Society of Scotland's Supplementary Written Evidence (June 2009)
3. Other evidence received by the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee

The working party also attended an oral evidence session with the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee on 27 May.

The official report from the evidence session can be accessed here.

On 18 June, the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee issued a stage 1 report on the Arbitration (Scotland) Bill. In the report, the committee made a number of references to the evidence they received from the working party. The Society welcomed the committee's call that the Scottish Government needed to revisit a number of the Bill's provisions with a view to strengthening the proposed legislation.
Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee's Stage 1 Report.

On 25 June the Arbitration (Scotland) Bill was passed at stage 1 after MSPs discussed the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee's stage 1 report. The working party wrote to all MSPs before the debate to repeat its support for the principles of the Bill and offered some suggestions for amendment to the Bill. 
The official report from the debate, in which the Society's evidence was considered on a number of occassions, can be viewed here.

The Bill passed stage 2 on 7 October 2009 and stage 3 on 18 November 2009. The working party remained involved with the Bill throughout these stages, commenting on government amendments and submitting a number of its own.

The Bill received royal assent in 2010.