The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas could have a functioning commercial court within a year of the Cabinet deciding to establish it, a senior QC told Tribune Business yesterday, adding that such an investment “would more than pay for itself in a very short time period”.

Brian Moree, senior partner at McKinney, Bancroft & Hughes, said he “strongly supported” the Attorney General’s stated intention to establish a dedicated, specialist commercial court within the Bahamian judicial system, adding that its creation would be a precursor to “a new industry” for this nation.

This was the long-discussed plan to create an International Arbitration Centre in the Bahamas, a project that Mr Moree told Tribune Business had been “delayed for too long”.

Acknowledging that this country had been “late to get into the game” on arbitration, the well-known QC said other jurisdictions had been able to get ahead of the Bahamas, and therefore it would be more difficult - and take longer - to develop “a book of business”.

During her address at the January 9, 2013, opening of the Legal Year, Allyson Maynard-Gibson, the attorney general, said: “It is my hope that this year we can commence discussions... on the establishment of a Commercial Court.”

Her comments came around a week after Mr Moree himself had suggested the Government adopt its proposed Family Court strategy in the commercial arena, and create a dedicated commercial court within the Bahamian judicial system.

Reiterating that a commercial court would “be a real competitive advantage for the Bahamas with regard to our attempts to market this jurisdiction as an international business centre”, Mr Moree acknowledged that the Government would have to fund a dedicated court room equipped with the necessary technology and resources.

It would also be necessary to amend the current Supreme Court rules or “promulgate special Orders” that would apply to the commercial court, while the recruitment of a judge experienced in such cases was also ideal.

“I would suggest this initiative should be given some priority in terms of the allocation of national resources, as this would be an investment that would more than pay for itself, and the return on this investment would come in a short period of time,” Mr Moree told Tribune Business.

“If we’re going to do it, we have to do it properly. If we do it properly, it is a major competitive advantage for our jurisdiction, not only for financial services, but with regard to general business development.”

He added that a modern, properly equipped commercial court could “achieve greater efficiency and disposition of commercial cases that directly affect the business community, and banking and other sectors that deal with commerce”.

To move forward, Mr Moree said a Cabinet-level decision would be required, after which the Chief Justice would have to form a Task Force to report on “all aspects” required to create a commercial court.

Issues that would have to be determined were the court’s location and physical needs; budget; training, personnel; judge recruitment; and all the legislative and regulatory reforms required to bring a commercial court into being.

Such a report could be done in three-six months, Mr Moree suggested.

The noted QC added: “It is a project which, given the necessary priority within the political directorate and release of necessary funding, could be implemented to the point where we have a working, functioning commercial court within nine-12 months.”

Mr Moree said such a judicial system restructuring would “greatly enhance the delivery and overall administration of justice”, and help relieve the ‘backlog’ of cases on the criminal side.

“From any perspective it would be a net gain,” Mr Moree told Tribune Business, “and while money would have to be invested in establishing a family court and commercial court, it would be recovered in a very short period of time.”

Apart from providing a platform for the development of the Bahamas as an international business centre, Mr Moree said a commercial court led into a “completion of the circle and providing the machinery for a new industry in this country”.

This was the International Arbitration Centre plan, but the QC told Tribune Business: “Because we’re late to get into this game, many countries have introduced legislation to create an arbitration centre in major centres of the world - London, Europe, Asia, South America.

“We have delayed for too long implementing our own plan for an arbitration centre, and to the extent many of our competitors have jumped into that market, it’s going to be a little more difficult, and will take time, to establish an arbitration centre and develop a book of business.

“But in my view, better late than never. If we’re going to do it in the short-term, the next 10-15 years, there is no better time to do it than now to build the business.”

However, to make a Bahamian International Arbitration Centre “viable”, Mr Moree said this nation would have to be prepared to change its Immigration policy, as clients would want to bring in their own attorneys from outside the Bahamas.