ICMA 2004 - Setting the standard

FOLLOWING a weekend described by the keynote speaker, The Rt Hon Lord Bingham of Cornhill, as “the most beautiful weekend since time began”, ICMA 2004 opened its doors on Monday April 26 at the Millennium Mayfair Hotel, London. It promised a jam-packed programme of speakers on all manner of topics ranging from attachment and arrests to vetting and war risks, with the obligatory mock mediation thrown in for good measure. And it certainly delivered.

Full marks go to ICMA for successfully keeping the programme on schedule, even if it did mean pausing for only one breath or two between courses at lunch. The speakers were truly international, bringing delegates well up to speed on the current challenges being faced by maritime arbitrators around the world.

Clare Ambrose gave an overview of the key cases on arbitration law which have appeared before the English courts since the last ICMA, paying particular attention to trends in court challenges to arbitration awards, confidentiality and reliance on arbitration agreements by third parties. John Weale, president of the Association of Maritime Arbitrators of Canada, made a rousing presentation on the publication of awards in London, saying that the LMAA could easily encourage publication by amending its terms to say that publication will be the norm unless one of the parties objects prior to publication.

Howard McCormack touched on 40 of the 136 awards issued by New York arbitration panels since 2001, while John Campbell looked at the impact of the recently drafted Arbitration (Scotland) Bill 2002, which, in his words, “will relaunch arbitration as the dispute resolution process of choice in Scottish commercial life”.

These were just some of the sixty-something papers presented during the congress – a mean feat by any conference organisers’ standards. Apparently Singapore and India are the favourites to host the sixteenth ICMA. Following in the footsteps of ICMA 2004 and the LMAA will be no easy task.