Innovative arbitration

An innovative arbitration scheme is to be launched to help international families avoid getting dragged into lengthy litigation on forum.

The International Family Law Arbitration Scheme (IFLAS) aims to help couples work out where family differences should be resolved by ascertaining the country with which they have the closest connection. It is the brainchild of Patrick Parkinson, a solicitor and professor of law at Sydney University, and David Hodson, a solicitor and part time deputy family court judge in London, and was announced last week at the AFCC annual conference in Boston, US.

The scheme, along with an interactive website, is due to go live on 4 September.

Co-founder Hodson said: ‘By using arbitration, with an arbitrator from a country with which neither couple have any connection, using a worldwide common law and closest connection criteria, a couple can more quickly, more cheaply and more satisfactorily resolve differences.

‘Currently when a couple have connections with more than one country there can be a dispute about which country will resolve any differences. This forum dispute is decided in, and by the law of, one of the two countries.

‘This is perceived as an unfair advantage to one of the parties. Some countries around the world are perceived as more likely to say that proceedings should be in their country. This scheme produces a mutually satisfactory outcome.’

The scheme would draw from a pool of arbitrators experienced in international family law disputes.

Co-founder Parkinson said: ‘The use of an arbitrator from a third country is a key part of the scheme ... Having a third country arbitrator is like having an umpire in a sports event who is not from either of the competing countries.’