CARICOM to review regional arbitration legislation

Regional arbitration legislation will be reviewed by stakeholders with a view to bringing CARICOM Member States up-to-date on its status in various countries and making proposals for new model legislation. This activity is being undertaken with funding from the Government of Canada, through the Improved Access to Justice in the Caribbean (IMPACT Justice) Project.{{more}}

The Arbitration Acts in CARICOM Member States are based on English arbitration legislation of 1889 and 1934, later consolidated into the Arbitration Act, 1950. The English have since modernized their Arbitration Act in 1996. The latter Act is based on the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration. To date, some 68 countries have modernized their arbitration legislation and adopted the UNCITRAL Model Law, while the legislation in CARICOM Member States remains, for the most part, outdated.

A meeting with regional stakeholders will be held in Port of Spain today and tomorrow (March 13 to 14 2015). It is at this meeting that attorneys-at-law, academics, accountants, engineers, architects and others impacted by arbitration legislation will discuss adopting a modern model arbitration law for the region. This is viewed as a necessary step toward the region being seen as a competitive force in the era of globalization.

This activity is part of a larger undertaking under which the IMPACT Justice Project will draft gender and environmentally sensitive model CSME and other laws for presentation to the CARICOM Legal Affairs Committee for approval. This is in keeping with the project’s commitment to provide assistance to CARICOM Member States in formulating laws leading to cooperation and economic integration as a means of promoting greater integration and sustainable economic growth in the region.