In the light of the current lockdown arrangements in London and other parts of the world, the London Maritime Arbitrators Association (LMAA) has given guidance to its users on the conduct of arbitration hearings by remote means.
The LMAA President, Ian Gaunt, has issued a letter pointing out the availability of facilities and willingness of LMAA arbitrators to conduct hearings remotely where the participants can be linked in several different locations. It is hoped by this means to avoid the need to adjourn arbitration hearings scheduled during the lockdown. Gaunt said that he expects that in future, also in “normal” conditions, parties will in many cases wish to make greater use of video conferencing for hearing of evidence, and possibly the remote participation of some or all of those involved in an arbitration hearing. The Commercial Court is also actively using remote means to make sure that cases in London can be heard promptly.
