History
The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) was founded as The Institute of Arbitrators on 1 March 1915 as an unincorporated association by H C Emery (a solicitor and chartered secretary), F M Burr (an architect), I W Bullen (an accountant), A Powells (profession unknown) and A Stevens (a solicitor). Membership of the Institute in the early years never rose above three or four hundred.
The aim of the Institute was 'to raise the status of Arbitration to the dignity of a distinct and recognised position as one of the learned professions'.
The first Secretary of CIArb was H C Emery, one of the founders, and the first offices were at 32 Old Jewry, London EC2. The first President, elected in June 1915, was Lord Headley, a consulting engineer. Since then there have been eight further Secretaries, Secretaries General or Directors General and fifty-four Presidents or Honorary Presidents.
It is interesting to note that the first council elected in 1915 consisted of six architects, two quantity surveyors, two surveyors, a civil engineer, a mechanical and electrical engineer and an accountant plus the President and Vice-President.
In around 1920 the offices of the Institute moved to Old Broad Street and in April 1925 it became an incorporated body limited by guarantee. Further moves took place to Norfolk Street WC2, Bedford Square WC1, Portland Place W1 and in 1965 to Park Crescent W1. In 1975 the Institute moved into premises in Cannon Street EC4 where it remained until the move to Angel Gate EC1 in 1990. Then in January 2001 it acquired the freehold of 12 Bloomsbury Square and moved in the following month. This is the first time in its history that the Institute has owned the premises in which it has been located.
Another milestone in CIArb's history was reached in 1975 with the merger of the arbitration activities of the Institute and the London Court of Arbitration, thus affording the Institute a greater entrée into international arbitration and an invaluable opportunity to increase its public profile. The Institute entered into an association with the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the City Corporation to create a Joint Committee of Management on which all three bodies were equally represented. The Institute and the London Court of Arbitration demerged in 1986.
In 1979, a Royal Charter was granted to the Institute which, although making little legal difference to the Institute's status as a person with legal capacity, set the seal on recognition of the Institute as a learned body. 1981 saw the creation of the Worshipful Company of Arbitrators ranked ninety-third in the list of City livery companies.
A further milestone in the evolution of CIArb was reached in July 1990 when it became a charitable body whose main object is to promote and facilitate the determination of disputes by arbitration and alternative means of dispute resolution, other than resolution by the courts. A number of measures to further this object were established amongst which were affording means of communication between members of the Institute and others concerned with arbitration and alternative means of dispute resolution, providing training and education at all levels for those practising or wishing to practise as arbitrators and providing means for testing the qualifications of candidates for admission to professional membership of the Institute by examination.
The Royal Charter has been updated in 1999 and 2005. In 1999 a new category of Member was introduced so that the membership categories are now Associate, Member and Fellow. At the same time a new qualification of Chartered Arbitrator was introduced as the highest level of qualification for an arbitrator. Many changes were made to the Royal Charter in 2005, the principal of which were the giving of a greater say in the management of the Institute to members resident outside England and Wales and the replacement of Council by a regionally elected Board of Trustees. There are twelve Trustees as opposed to the approximately thirty-five members of Council.
Membership currently stands at approximately twelve thousand individuals, of which some 51 per cent are overseas. The increase in membership numbers led to the creation of branches in the 1980s, mainly in the UK but also overseas, so that members who wished to play an active part in the Institute's affairs would be able to do so. There are now a growing number of branches across all six continents.
Last Updated: 02 September 2009