Friday, 29th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search
Breaking News:
Law  

LCA urges Nigerians to embrace arbitration, CIArb holds annual conference in Port Harcourt

By Joseph Onyekwere
01 November 2016   |   2:22 am
The president of the Lagos Court of Arbitration (LCA), Mr. Yemi Candide-Johnson (SAN) has called on Nigerians to embrace arbitration and other alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.
Yemi Candide-Johnson. PHOTO: about.me

Yemi Candide-Johnson. PHOTO: about.me

The president of the Lagos Court of Arbitration (LCA), Mr. Yemi Candide-Johnson (SAN) has called on Nigerians to embrace arbitration and other alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.

Candide-Johnson said since dispute is inevitable in commercial transactions, arbitration too has become indispensable as no one can do business in any environment without certainty of how disputes would be resolved.

He said: “The problem we have in judiciary is that many people cannot predict accurately what the result of their litigation would be as well as the cloud of corruption around the sector.” He insisted that no country can succeed if people do not trust her system of dispute resolution.

The Lagos Court of Arbitration (LCA) is an independent, private-sector driven, International Centre for the resolution of Commercial disputes via Arbitration and other forms of alternative dispute resolution (ADR). Ideally located within the International Centre for Arbitration and ADR (ICAA), Lagos, Nigeria, the LCA’s use of internationally recognised neutrals, modern facilities and the adoption of innovative technology, make the LCA an efficient and best-in-class arbitration institution.

LCA was established under the Lagos Court of Arbitration Law, No. 17, 2009 to provide institutionalised arbitration and ADR services. . It is the first purpose built ADR Centre in Africa. It has over 15 meeting/hearing rooms for hire and it is spread over 1900 square metres of land.

To achieve its mandate, the LCA was empowered to appoint an arbitral tribunal in respect of any disputes referred to it and maintain a panel of neutrals which consist of arbitrators, mediators and other experts with the requisite skills and experience to meet set functions. The expertise of the LCA spans multiple industries, including Oil and Gas, Finance, Maritime, Construction, Engineering, Telecommunications, Hospitality, Tourism, Insurance and so on.

Meanwhile, the Chartered Institute of Arbitrtors (CIArb) Nigeria (UK) branch has announced its preparedness to hold the 2016 annual conference and Gala nite between November 10 and 11, in Port Harcourt, River State.

Addressing a press conference in that regard, the Chair of the group, Mrs Adedoyin Rhodes-Vivour said the conference is in line with the Institute’s commitment to the delivery of quality education and training aimed at the development of a learned society in the field of dispute resolution and building capacity.

Her words: “In the finest tradition of the Nigerian branch, we have devised a theme: “Exploring new frontiers in Arbitration and ADR”, which speaks to the desire of the Nigeria branch to break new grounds in arbitration and ADR.

“As earlier explained, the annual conference is a significant part of the calender of the Nigeria branch and the Institutes calender. Aside from offering an additinal opportunity to train its members, it is also an event where new members who have succeffuly scaled the various training programmes of CIArb are inducted into the Nigeria branch as associates, members and fellows.”

She revealed that one of the sessions apart from that of oil and gas would tackle the role of arbitration practitioner in terrorism, insurgency, mediation and peace. Rhodes-Vivour also said holding the conference in Portharcourt, which is an oil and gas city is strategic, giving that disputes arising from entities in the oil and gas investment are most likely.

She also stated that array of speakers with industry experience would handle various sessions.

0 Comments