Arbitration
Arbitration plays an important role in Aotearoa New Zealand’s dispute resolution landscape, for domestic and international matters. Bankside Chambers is host to some of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most respected arbitration specialists. Members sit as arbitrators and act as counsel in domestic and international matters. Some of those barristers are also members of Bankside Singapore.
Why Arbitration
There is a strong culture in New Zealand of agreeing to arbitrate disputes across a wide range of sectors, including insurance, shareholder disputes and trust disputes. Arbitration offers an excellent alternative to court proceedings for resolving disputes. In New Zealand, arbitrations are deemed to be confidential. The empirical data from the Second Aotearoa Arbitration Survey shows that arbitration is quicker and cheaper than court proceedings. Awards are easily enforced in the courts, both in New Zealand and internationally.
Arbitration is particularly attractive for cross-border disputes where the parties can choose their arbitrator and ensure that they have a binding award that can be enforced in most places in the world.
Arbitration Expertise
Our members:
- Act as counsel in domestic and international arbitrations, representing clients in complex disputes across multiple industries, including construction, insurance, corporate and shareholder disputes, trust disputes, property disputes, technology disputes (including cryptocurrency), intellectual property disputes and many others.
- Act as counsel and arbitrators in investment treaty disputes.
- Can advise on all aspects of an arbitration, including drafting dispute resolution and jurisdiction clauses, arbitration-related court applications – such as applications to stay litigation in favour of arbitration, your choice of decision-maker for a dispute, and arbitral procedure and strategy.
- Appear as counsel in some of the leading arbitration cases which have come before the New Zealand courts. This has included acting as intervenor in the Court of Appeal in a case concerning the approach to trust arbitration.
- Sit as arbitrators under the New Zealand Arbitration Act and institutional rules such as the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), the ICC (International Chamber of Commerce, Paris), the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID, Washington DC) and the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA, The Hague). They also sit as arbitrators in ad hoc arbitrations under the UNCITRAL Rules.
- Are recognised in legal directories such as Chambers & Partners and Legal 500.
- Include past and current Presidents of the Arbitrators’ and Mediators’ Institute of New Zealand: John Walton, Royden Hindle, Mark Kelly, Dr Anna Kirk.
- Are at the forefront of legal developments in arbitration both in New Zealand and internationally and regularly publish academic commentary in this field.
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Insights
View AllResources
View AllFebruary 26, 2024
Gender Diverse / Women Arbitrators
This resource provides a list of some practitioners accepting arbitration appointments in New Zealand.
Download ResourceOctober 16, 2023
HKIAC - Syska and another v Vivendi Universal SA and others [2009] 2 All ER (Comm) 891 (CA)
Download ResourceOctober 16, 2023
HKIAC - INSOL International Special Report on Arbitration and Insolvency Disputes (29 Jul 2020)
Download ResourceOctober 16, 2023
HKIAC - King River Digital Assets Opportunities SPC v Salerno [2023] NSWSC 510
Download ResourceOctober 16, 2023
HKIAC - Peace River Hydro Partners v Petrowest Corp, 2022 SCC 41 (10 November 2022)
Download ResourceOctober 16, 2023
HKIAC - Republic of Mozambique v Privinvest Shipbuilding SAL (Holding) & Ors [2023] UKSC 32
Judgment: Republic of Mozambique (acting through its Attorney General) (Appellant) v Privinvest Shipbuilding SAL (Holding) and others (Respondents). Judgment given on 20 September 2023. Heard on 24 and 25 January 2023
Download ResourceJune 17, 2022
Arbitration Template: Scott Schedule
Scott schedules are common in construction arbitration. They are also deployed in construction litigation. They enable the parties to identify the key issues between them and to identify the documents that are relevant to those issues. They can help simplify often highly factually complex disputes.
Download ResourceJune 17, 2022
Arbitration Template: Preliminary Conference Checklist
This template provides a helpful starting point for the types of issues a party should be considering before the first procedural conference with the arbitral tribunal.
Download ResourceJune 17, 2022
Arbitration Template: PO1 and Timetable
The Tribunal’s first procedural order and timetable should be a carefully crafted document, ensuring that the parties have identified a procedure that is fit for their dispute. This template provides a starting point for the issues the parties may wish to consider, including the scope of document production and the manner in which witness evidence is adduced.
Download ResourceJune 17, 2022
Arbitration Template: Memorial
A memorial-style submission is a more detailed pleading, accompanied by a party’s full evidence (fact and expert) and legal case. Memorials have proven to be effective in international arbitration. They front load the work thereby enabling parties to understand much earlier on in a proceeding where the respective strengths and weaknesses may lie. They can also encourage early settlement.
Download ResourceJune 17, 2022
Arbitration Template: Hearing Schedule
In the international arbitration arena, hearing schedules have become part and parcel of good practice and time management at hearings. There is no reason why they should not be used more often in domestic arbitrations. This schedule adopts the so-called “chess clock” method of time allocation and enables the parties to sketch out their agreed structure for the hearing. Hearing schedules save time by encouraging discipline on each side.
Download ResourceJune 17, 2022
Arbitration Template: Appointment Agreement
If the arbitration is not an institutional arbitration (e.g. under the NZDRC or other rules), the parties’ appointment of the arbitrator is a key document. This template provides an example agreement as a starting point.
Download ResourceJune 17, 2022
Arbitration Template : Agreed List of Issues
An agreed list of issues can be compiled at any stage in an arbitration. Many arbitrators encourage the parties to seek such agreement in order to narrow the issues in dispute and in order to focus the hearing. This can also be used after a hearing to assist the arbitrator in writing its award.
Download ResourceJune 17, 2022
Designing an Arbitration that is Fit for Purpose
This presentation was for the AMINZ 2019 conference. Drawing on the presenters’ experience as both arbitrators and counsel, it provides tips for running arbitrations more effectively. The presentation is supported by eight templates (see separate resources), relevant to each stage of an arbitration
Download Resource