Peters and Shah write that the mandatory arbitration procedure for commercial leases that was introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic could provide a blueprint. One advantage is that arbitrators would need to have specialist expertise. The authors write that arbitrators in agricultural disputes, for example, would be appointed by specialist bodies, ‘ensuring that the person who is deciding such disputes comes to the dispute with an existing body of specialist knowledge. There is no doubt this can help facilitate the efficient, expeditious, cost-effective and just resolution of such disputes’.
Moreover, the benefits could reach beyond the parties involved, since compulsory arbitration would likely reduce the strain on the court system and save public resources.
