IBQC - Global Thought Leadership Conference: How to Improve Affordability and Accessibility to Construction Dispute Resolution
I B Q C International Building Quality Centre
Global leadership in development of good practice building regulatory policy guidelines.
In September 2023, the IBQC held it’s global conference on ways by which construction dispute resolution can be made more affordable. There were two sessions; one for the northern hemisphere and one for the southern hemisphere.
18 preeminent international speakers addressed the conference ranging from senior jurists from Africa, the United Kingdom and Australia, to senior construction lawyers and senior economists. Attached to this release are links to the conference page on the IBQC website, which included the videos and powerpoints from the conferences.
Even though the second conference was more emerging economy centric, both sessions should be viewed to arrive at the full picture.
The first session was on 12 September 2023 and the photos of the speakers are below:
The second session was on the 13 September 2023 and the photos of the speakers are below:
Some key take-outs
Construction dispute resolution is incredibly expensive and is beyond the reach of many citizens, not only in emerging economies but increasingly in developed economies. The time taken for the resolution of building disputes is onerous.
Neither the time involved in the resolution of construction disputes nor the cost of resolution of same can be sustained from the perspective of providing suitable access to justice to the local and global citizen.
As the construction industry is such a huge global industry it can ill-afford a cost imposition of the magnitude of?trend.
An inability of an emerging economy to establish robust dispute resolution systems can negatively impact upon offshore investor appetite in light of the secure access to effective dispensation of justice.
On a positive note
The speakers were able to proffer a variety of ways by which construction dispute resolution processes can be made far more efficient.
The overall costs of construction dispute resolution could be reined in significantly by way of mandating:
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Key quotes from the Conference
The Honourable Brian Preston FRSN SC: “The overriding purpose is to facilitate the just, quick and cheap resolution of the real issues involved in the dispute. This involves differential case management – tailoring the case management directions to fit the individual dispute.”
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Dr Richard Manly KC: “One of the general duties or paramount objectives that an arbitral tribunal or judge should observe at all times is to adopt procedures suitable to the circumstances of the dispute, avoiding unnecessary delay or expense, so as to provide a fair and efficient means for the final resolution of the dispute in question.”
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Her Honour Judge Sharon Burchell, County Court of Victoria: “Litigants appearing in the Victorian County Court have benefitted greatly from this shift away from individual experts, as judges are able to deliver judgments quicker, trials are shorter, settlement is more probable, and the process leading up to trial is more efficient.”
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Alejandro Espinosa-Wang: “Action to be considered by policy makers in emerging economies moving forward: expand and improve commercial courts' construction law expertise through judge training, promote alternative dispute resolution methods like mediation and arbitration, and establish specialized construction dispute resolution forums with industry experts.”
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Her Honour Francis Kirkham CBE: “It is vital that the state accept the concept of arbitrator immunity for genuine support of the arbitration process.”
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Martin Burns BA (Hons) LL.B (Hons) Barrister RICS: “The conflict avoidance pledge commits signatories to adopt early intervention techniques throughout the supply chain to try to avoid, manage and/or resolve issues before they escalate into disputes, identify potential disputes early and use conflict avoidance measures in practice, and work with the industry to identify, promote, and use these mechanisms.”
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Adjunct Professor Kim Lovegrove MSE RML: “As a synopsis of reasons why some of the lessons learnt over the last 2 days should gain attention. A less than optimal system:
-works against utilitarian outcomes in terms of legal proceedings.
-by and large destroy commercial relationships and contracting relations.
-leads to divergent rather than convergent outcomes.”
The reader is encouraged to use the video conferences as a resource with respect to divining ways by which construction dispute resolution can be made more accessible to the local and global citizen. A phenomenal amount of time and work went into the conference along with a very rare concentration of global experts from such diverse and pan jurisdictional backgrounds.