If some are to be believed, arbitration in the construction industry has no future. Arbitration is squeezed out between adjudication, which is quick and simple, and litigation, which is final and all embracing. It also has to contend with the catch-all of friendly mediation as a means of resolving any dispute. So, does arbitration have a future?
Once upon a time, if you needed to resolve a dispute, the only option was the court with judges and counsel – a slow and usually very expensive process. It still can be, although recently there has been a judicial sea-change which has seen the adoption of a more proactive, expeditious approach with stringent financial control. It is perhaps worth remembering that a ghost does lurk very close to the surface. Charles Dickens in Bleak House portrayed litigation as a disease that plagues society. Actions are “slow, expensive, British, constitutional kind of things” that stifle and bemuse those who come in contact with them. In the Bleak House action, the case had a detrimental effect on the parties’ lives. They attend court regularly, expecting a judgment that is never to come. It is a situation that very many today may sympathise with from personal experience.
