Arbitration (Scotland) Bill passed

The Arbitration (Scotland) Bill was passed by the Scottish parliament on 18th November 2009.

On passage of the Bill the Enterprise Minister Jim Mather said,

"The Bill gives Scotland a modern arbitration regime which captures the best of modern international practice. It reforms and codifies the existing out of date, obscure and incomplete law and will enable people to resolve their disputes more quickly and more effectively than going to court, setting the scene for a renaissance of Scottish arbitration.

"There is increasing demand around the world for high quality arbitration services to resolve cross-border commercial disputes, and the Bill will help to make Scotland an easy place to do business. In order to make Scotland an attractive choice for dispute resolution and bring international business here, we must demonstrate that our domestic arbitration system is efficient and cost effective. The aim of the Bill is to give us a modern, impartial and efficient arbitration regime which will have that effect."

Although passed on 18th November the bill has not yet received royal assent.

The bill is considered in a paper on the Renaissance of Scottish International Arbitration by Steven P Walker, advocate and a comment by Professor Eric Clive.