By Tony Song* His Excellency, High Commissioner of Kenya, Isaiya Kabira with Deborah Lockhart at the 55th Anniversary of Jamhuri Day in Canberra. Jamhuri Day marks the independence and birth of Kenya as an independent nation-state. On the 12 December 1963, Kenya achieved sovereignty with its own government led by Jomo Kenyatta as Prime Minister. A year later, on this day, Kenya officially declared itself a republic. The modern history of Kenya is intertwined with British colonialism. First [...]

This year’s Intercollegiate Negotiation and Arbitration Competition (INC) in Tokyo has been won by Team Australia – 21 students from 9 Australian universities.  Team Australia won the competition outright, as well as the Squire Patton Boggs Award for the highest scoring team in English-language Negotiation. In an historic first, Team Australia also won the Herbert Smith Freehills Award the highest scoring team in Arbitration, in Japanese.  That award was presented by Team Australia alumna Eriko Kadota, Dispute Desolution Associate in [...]

  As a law student from Macquarie University with a love for the practical elements of the law, I have sincerely enjoyed my internship with the Australian Disputes Centre. Since my very first day, I witnessed first-hand the prominence and importance of alternative dispute resolution in the modern legal industry. As an intern I was involved in facilitating mediation training in both Sydney and Melbourne, and also attained an 'ADR and Dispute Settlement' from ADC. This experience not only prompted me to [...]

Dual proceedings will not stick - Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC v Bega Cheese Limited [2018] FCA 549 The case concerns the restraining of arbitral proceedings in the US District Court of the Southern District of New York in the matter between Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC (‘Kraft’) and Bega Cheese Limited (‘Bega’). In 2017, Bega acquired certain rights to use the Kraft brand including the right to sell peanut butter in Australia using its jar design. Bega then aired various [...]

The Hon. Tim Pallas MP; Emma King CEO of Victorian Council of Social Service; Treasure Jennings, Public Transport Ombudsman; and Denis Nelthorpe, CEO of WEstjustice. In August 2018, the Public Transport Ombudsman Victoria was awarded the ‘ADR Innovation of the Year Award’ by the Australian Disputes Centre for their unique and pre-emptive approach to assisting homeless young people with public transport disputes. In partnership with the community legal service ‘WEstjustice’ the Public Transport Ombudsman recognised a recurring pattern [...]

by Michael Moryosef* AUSTRALIA Limited scope to appeal security of payment decisions: Probuild Constructions v Shade Systems[1] This recent Australian High Court decision held that an adjudication determination made under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 NSW (SOP Act) may not be overturned on the basis that the determination contained a non-jurisdictional error. The decision found that the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of NSW did not have jurisdiction to overturn an arbitrated decision on the [...]

ADR v Adjudication: Jurisprudential and Socio-Economic Considerations The Hon. Chief Justice Chris Kourakis’ SA Supreme Court Address Crypto-currency and medieval market fair courts may have more in common than first meets the eye. Kourakis CJ takes us back to the future in postulating how disputes involving new technologies may best be resolved. The Australian Disputes Centre received a warm welcome at the Supreme Court of South Australia in hosting the Court’s inaugural ADR Address on 18 October 2018. Chief Justice [...]

On 6 June 2018, the first Court of Arbitration for Art (CAfA) was officially launched at The Hague. This specialist court arose as a response to the art market’s critique that traditional judges and juries lack the expertise required to determine esoteric issues such as authenticity. Though located at The Hague, proceedings may take place anywhere in the world. A significant feature of the CAfA rules is that proceedings only utilise tribunal-appointed experts when determining questions of origin and matters [...]

ADR, ODR AND AI-DR, OR DO WE EVEN NEED COURTS ANYMORE? The Hon. Chief Justice Tom Bathurst AC The Supreme Court of NSW Wales warmly welcomed some 180 guests at the Court’s inaugural ADR Address on 20 September 2018. Living in an age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, computers are increasingly capable to outperforming humans, possibly leading to supplanting the role of legal professionals altogether. Bathurst CJ identifies two main ‘supportive’ technologies that could transform both court proceedings and ADR [...]