Partnership to promote Scotland as dispute resolution centre

Professional bodies are joining with the Scottish Government in a new collaborative partnership to promote Scotland as a world-class centre for dispute resolution.

The Law Society of Scotland, the Faculty of Advocates, the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors in Scotland and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Scottish Branch) are to work with ministers to promote Scotland to businesses across the UK and the globe.

The campaign will:

• promote the value of dispute resolution to existing and potential practitioners (to encourage more to consider developing alternative dispute resolution practices);
• demonstrate how easy dispute resolution in Scotland could be;
• set out the attractiveness of Scotland as a dispute resolution centre to potential clients (individuals, small enterprises and large corporate clients); and
• showcase Scotland as an internationally-recognised leading seat of arbitration.

Ash Denham, Minister for Community Safety, annnounced the initiative at the Faculty of Advocates’ Arbitration in Scotland Conference 2019.

In a speech to the conference, she said Scotland had a diverse dispute resolution landscape, which provided options to parties. She highlighted the Arbitration (Scotland) Act 2010 as world-leading legislation and giving Scotland one of the most modern systems of arbitration, and looked forward to the 2020 Congress of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA) in Edinburgh.

"The conference will put Scotland in the spotlight and will give our great nation an unprecedented profile in the international legal sphere", she commented.

"Collaboration and partnership working brings benefit for all of us."

Welcoming the move, Angela Grahame QC, Vice Dean of Faculty, said it would ensure that "we in this jurisdiction best present the talents and skills of our members on an international as well as a domestic scale".

She added: "We commend this initiative and welcome the opportunity to collaborate with other key stakeholders, looking to ICCA 2020 and beyond. Working alongside the Scottish Government, the Law Society of Scotland, the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors in Scotland ensures that we in this jurisdiction best present the talents and skills of our members on an international as well as a domestic scale."