Scotland Branch

2008 Annual Report by Len Bunton, Chairman.

The principal branch officers for 2008 were: Len Bunton (Chairman), Brandon Nolan (Vice Chairman) and Alistair Dean (Honorary Secretary).

Activity in the branch has been maintained at a very high level with a combination of an excellent programme of monthly events covering the whole spectrum of ADR in Scotland. Attendance at our meeting averages more than 35 members and other interested parties.

Our main achievement during the year was the publication of the 2007 Scottish Arbitration Code and I am grateful to the members of our drafting committee and also to the many consultees who participated in the two year process. This Code has been well received in the market place, and has brought time and cost certainty to the arbitration process in Scotland.

Our Annual Dinner was attended by over 160 members and guests. It is a key feature in our calendar, as too is the Annual Lecture, given in 2008 by Sir Vivian Ramsay.

The Scotland Branch has restructured its operations and the driving force behind all of our activities is four sub-groups which deal with education and examinations, events, PR and website, membership development and drafting. The sub-groups comprise committee members and other interested parties, and we have found that by spreading the workload, then much more can, and has been, achieved. As an example, we are justifiably proud of our newsletter which is published quarterly, and is crammed full of interesting and relevant articles on ADR.

On the education front, we maintain a high level of activity, running two Entry Courses every year, as well as courses for RICS Scotland Agricultural Arbitrators and General Practice Surveyors. We will continue to run our CPD days for the Chairman's Panel of Arbitrators and Adjudicators. A Chairman's Panel of Mediators is in the process of being established.

The Scotland Branch has produced, and is in the process of implementing, a long term development plan which includes our first step towards establishing a permanent secretariat in Scotland with the appointment of a part time development officer, Bob Shorter, whose remit has been to widen the membership base away from its traditional source of the Scottish construction industry. Much progress has been made in identifying links with other professional organisations such as the Chartered Institute of Bankers and the Institute of Purchasing and Supply. The Scotland Branch will also establish a new chapter in Aberdeen with the main objective of membership recruitment from the oil and gas sector.

The Scotland Branch has been heavily involved in consultation with the Scottish Government in relation to the Arbitration [Scotland] Bill 2009 and much of this work has been carried out by Hew Dundas, Past President, and John Campbell QC, the current President.

Other initiatives include running an Award Writing Course for RICS Scotland.

It has been an absolute privilege for me to have been Chairman of the Scotland Branch from 2007 to 2009, particularly when so much has been achieved by my colleagues on our committee, who are all very busy professionals, but who have given the Scotland Branch 100 per cent support.

A particular vote of thanks is due to Gordon Coutts QC for his quiet advice, to Hew Dundas and John Campbell QC for their ongoing support and encouragement, and to our hard-working secretariat in the form of Alistair Dean and Rachael Brown.

Past chairman Ian Trushell has been a huge support, and also my vice chairman, Brandon Nolan, a lifelong and hugely respected friend, who has been an inspiration to work with over the past two years.

Finally, apart from having a busy career as a dispute resolver, I have a very large family, and I wish to express my absolute gratitude to my dear wife Sheila for her patience and tolerance of my absence from home on CIArb business every week for the past two years. She encouraged me to act as chairman and has shared in anything we have achieved.

Last Updated: 13 May 2009