The Scottish Arbitration Centre, based in CA House, 21 Haymarket Yards in Edinburgh, was established in 2011 following the introduction of the Arbitration (Scotland) Act 2010. We work to promote arbitration in Scotland, and Scotland to the world as a seat and venue for international arbitration.

The Centre is a non-profit company limited by guarantee, made up of the Law Society of Scotland, the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Scottish Ministers.

The Centre offers an arbitral appointments service, where the selection of an arbitrator is made by its Arbitral Appointments Committee, which acts independently from the Board of the Centre. Within the Committee, there is domestic Sub-Committee, chaired by Lindy Patterson QC, and an international Sub-Committee, chaired by Juliet Blanch, which appoint arbitrators for domestic and international disputes, respectively. The Centre does not maintain a list or panel of arbitrators, so the committee has complete discretion to choose a suitable arbitrator for the dispute from the leading domestic (Scottish) and international arbitrators.

The Centre is also involved in the provision of training events and holds a training day every year.

We actively engage with lawyers and other professionals involved in dispute resolution, attending and speaking at conferences and meetings locally and worldwide. We work with various international arbitration bodies and have a seat on the ICC UK Arbitration and ADR Committee. We also provide Scotland chapters to international arbitration guides. In addition, we work with the UK and Scottish Governments on arbitration-related matters, collaborating with them where possible. The Centre continues to develop and grow and our work is having an impact internationally.

The Centre has built up a network of strong ties with the domestic and international arbitration community, and their prospective client bases. We understand that arbitration business is generally on the increase in Scotland, with ad hoc Scottish arbitration, as well as the Centre’s clause, increasingly being used as the default dispute clause in contracts.

The Centre was successful in its bid for Edinburgh to host the ICCA Congress, “the Olympic Games of International Arbitration”, in 2016 seeing off stiff competition from the other cities on the shortlist: Copenhagen; Mexico City; Stockholm; St Petersburg: Vancouver; and Vienna. This prestigious event will attract over 1,000 delegates from all over the world to Scotland. ICCA Edinburgh is expected to be the largest ever ICCA Congress and will attract the leading people from this sector from across the globe. VisitScotland estimates that ICCA Edinburgh will boost Scotland’s economy by more than £2 million. The Congress will give us a platform to showcase Edinburgh, Scotland and our arbitration system to leading international practitioners.

With its distinguished legal tradition, innovative legislation and the Scottish Arbitration Centre, Scotland is well placed to compete as an attractive and cost-effective venue for arbitration on the global stage.