BAHAMAS Law and Practice Contributed by: John F. Wilson KC and Adrienne N. Bellot, McKinney, Bancroft & Hughes
12. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) 12.1 Views of ADR Within the Country Mediation is seldom used. The most popular method of ADR is arbitration. 12.2 ADR Within the Legal System The legal system does not promote ADR very much. ADR is not integrated into the Civil Pro- cedure Rules. 12.3 ADR Institutions Institutions offering and promoting ADR are not very well organised in The Bahamas. 13. Arbitration 13.1 Laws Regarding the Conduct of Arbitration The Arbitration Act, 2009, governs the recogni- tion and enforcement of arbitral awards by the Supreme Court. 13.2 Subject Matters Not Referred to Arbitration There are no subject matters that may not be referred to arbitration in The Bahamas. 13.3 Circumstances to Challenge an Arbitral Award Parties can challenge arbitral proceedings as to the substantive jurisdiction of the tribunal, on the ground that there was a serious irregular- ity affecting the tribunal, the proceedings or the award, on a point of law. 13.4 Procedure for Enforcing Domestic and Foreign Arbitration In The Bahamas, arbitration awards are treated as judgments pursuant to the Arbitration (For-
two methods of quantifying the costs. Costs may be determined by the court based on fixed costs or based on prescribed costs. Fixed costs are costs fixed by the rules for certain stages of the proceedings. The rules set out scales for the costs attached to claims. Where fixed costs are not applicable, prescribed costs apply. Costs are determined based on the value of the claim. 11.2 Factors Considered When Awarding Costs When awarding costs, the court considers the following factors: • the conduct of the parties both before and during the proceedings; • whether a party has succeeded on particular issues, even if not ultimately successful in the case, although success on an issue that is not conclusive of the case confers no entitle- ment to a costs order; • the manner in which a party has pursued a particular allegation, a particular issue, or the case; • whether the manner in which the party has pursued a particular allegation, issue or the case, has increased the costs of the proceed- ings; • whether it was reasonable for a party to pur- sue a particular allegation or raise a particu- lar issue and whether the successful party increased the costs of the proceedings by the unreasonable pursuit of issues; and • whether the claimant gave reasonable notice of an intention to pursue the issue raised by the application. 11.3 Interest Awarded on Costs Interest is awarded on costs based on the judg- ment rate.
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