INTRODUCTION Contributed by: Paul P. Jebely, Paul P. Jebely
Arbitration and Mediation for Aviation Aviation v inertia
symbolises a movement towards evolved dispute res - olution for the aviation industry. It is a cross-industry, cross-cultural, cross-discipline, and collaborative venture that is supported by a core group of nearly 150 senior aviation, arbitration and mediation profes - sionals around the world – not to mention dozens of leading arbitrators and mediators on its lists of neu - trals – and one of the oldest and most experienced international arbitration and mediation institutions in the world. The way we were The best aviation industry attorneys live in the blank white spaces between the lines and at the edges of contracts, where law meets commerce and strategy in real time rather than frozen in time. They can, at will, escape the gravitational pull of precedent where it best serves the needs of their clients and companies to do so. This includes advising their clients and com - panies to choose the method or methods of dispute resolution which put them in the best and least pain - ful position should a contractual dispute or need to enforce arise. While a multitude of variables guide this choice in any specific transactional context, it is cru - cial to recognise that the best choice may no longer be the one that is square-bracketed in the precedent form of document used. Historically, the hallowed halls of justice that are national courts of law in various jurisdictions have been the primary battlegrounds for contractual dis - putes within the aviation industry. Yet, litigation (par - ticularly that involving multiple jurisdictions and com - plex engineering and technical subject matter) has proven to many in the aviation industry to be a fero - cious, unedifying, publicly embarrassing and astound - ingly expensive exercise when the only clear winners are the battalions of attorneys on either side. It is often a process that consumes vast reserves of bandwidth, capital and sanity. What is worse, the outcomes of litigation occasionally veer into the realm of absurdity when left to the judgement of those bereft of industry- specific knowledge or – worse still – neutrality. While the exact global total is challenging to pinpoint, it is nevertheless clear that current worldwide arbi - tration alone represents a staggering sum in dispute that certainly exceeds USD300 billion. The inescap -
In physics, inertia is the tendency of an object to resist changes in its state. Newton’s first law provides that every object will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless compelled to change its state by the action of an external force. The vast global aviation industry has been at war with inertia every second of every day for over a century. In the most obvious sense, we prevail constantly in taking flight by using thrust and lift against inertia. Thankfully so, given that our industry is a crucial artery of world com - merce which contributes nearly USD3 trillion to its gross domestic product annually. We have, however, largely failed in the battle against inertia in a less obvi - ous sense over the last century. Ours is an industry where contractual disputes have been an undeniable reality for over a century, yet our preferred methods of contractual dispute resolution have been grounded in the archaic. Thankfully, we are now amidst an industry and legal paradigm shift – slowly, then suddenly. But a paradigm shift does not happen in a vacuum. It shifts start as a whisper, an idea that slowly gains momentum, challenging the sta - tus quo, until, suddenly, the “new” becomes the norm. Inertia is a key force behind why aviation was some - how left behind and so remained as one of the final nearly untouched frontiers of arbitration and mediation prior to the launch of The Hague Court of Arbitration for Aviation (The Hague CAA). Two years since that launch, The Hague CAA already stands as a beacon of specialised knowledge and expertise in aviation contractual dispute resolution, and it is just getting started. Far from being a solution looking for a problem, The Hague CAA was born from an awakening by avia - tion professionals that aviation contractual disputes require not just resolution, but resolution through the lens that understood the complexities of aviation, the commerce of aviation, and the community of aviation. As a non-profit enterprise with the mission to “pro - mote the use of arbitration and mediation as preferred methods of contractual dispute resolution throughout the vast global aviation industry, wherever and how - ever helpful to the parties involved”, The Hague CAA
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