Newsletter
Information for members
February 2003

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Programme

A reminder that the general evening meetings are free of charge to members and guests and that no booking is necessary

Chartered Institute of Arbitrators Talk

The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators West Midlands Branch has announced a talk to be held at 6.30pm on Monday, 10th March at the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The speaker will be Richard Fernyhough QC and his talk is entitled "The Expert Witness - How to Survive Cross Examination". For further details, and to book the buffet to be held before the talk, email kbarley@wilkes.co.uk

Renewal of Membership 2003

To those members who have already renewed their 2003 membership, thank you. To those of you who have yet to do so a reminder that if you wish to continue to be a member, then you must pay the £95 subscription, which is due now please. Payment can be made either by cheque (payable to SCL) sent to the admin office, or by Debit Card on the website. If you have mislaid the renewal invoice sent to you in December, Jackie Morris can supply a copy.

SCL Papers

His Honour Judge Humphrey LLoyd's paper Some Aspects of Professional Regulation - The Architects' Registration Board, given in London in December, is now on the website, and a printed copy is enclosed with this newsletter.

Two other papers, Procurement - Best Value? given by Tom Connolly in Sheffield in September and Construction Tenders - The EU Procurement Regime, Common Law and the Irish Condoc System given by John ME Lyden in Cork in November will be going on the web shortly.

Many members have yet to register to access papers on the web free of charge - it is very simple to do: please do go to www.scl.org.uk and register now!!

SCL Hudson Prize 2002

The judging panel has announced the following results for the 2002 competition:

First prize:
Philip Britton, Director, Centre of Construction Law, King's College, London for his paper entitled Oxalic Acid and the applicable law: the Rome Convention and construction.

Second prize:
Hamish Lal, solicitor, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, London: The Doctrine of Penalties and the "Absurd Paradox" - Does it really matter in 2003?

Highly Commended:
Roberta Downey, solicitor, Lovells: The contract is King… and Queen: the use of entire agreement clauses in construction contracts.

Commended:
Arvin Lee, resident intern, Institute for Policy Studies, Singapore: Injuncting a call in the face of 'fraud or unconscionability': Elucidating the optimal ambit of unconscionability.
Jonathan Selby, barrister, Keating Chambers, London: The Expert Witness' liability in negligence.
David Lewis, solicitor, Lawbuild, London: The Consensus Principle.

Philip Britton and Hamish Lal will be presenting their papers at the National Liberal Club on 6th May (see programme above for details)

Congratulations to the winners and our thanks to everyone who entered! Details of the 2003 competition will be circulated shortly.

SCL Web Site: www.scl.org.uk

SCL is always plugging its website, and - unless you have visited it recently - you may not quite understand why. Do check it out.

One good reason is that the links have been augmented and reorganised. There are currently 56 links covering:

1 Professional interest and UK Government: including Acts of Parliament, BAILII (the British and IrishLegal Information Institute, an invaluable source for judgments etc), the Law Commission, HSE etc.
2 The Construction Act: including not only the Act, but the Schemes, Commencement Orders and Exclusion Orders for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
3 International: including for example FIDIC, the ICC and European Society.
4 General interest: including the Construction Best Practice Programme, PFI Network and Rethinking Construction sites etc.
5 Grants.
6 Organisations: including many trade and professional bodies in the industry.
7 Universities and
8 Charities.

If something is missing which you feel should be there (so long as it is not a commercial site) do please get in touch with the publications editor, Frances Paterson

TCC Users Committee Meeting

On behalf of SCL, Victoria Russell attended the above meeting on 29 January, at which there was further discussion about TCC judgments being put onto the website www.bailii.org

Although it had been thought that all TCC (reserved) judgments would automatically go onto this website, the position is now somewhat different.

All TCC Judges are encouraged to send their judgments to HHJ Bowsher QC to forward on to bailii to the extent that they feel that the judgment is worth reporting.

If you are involved in a TCC case leading to a judgment which you consider covers points of general interest for those in the construction industry and construction law, please remind the TCC Judge in question to send his/her judgment to HHJ Bowsher QC for onward transmission to the bailii website. Alternatively, please e-mail it to bailii yourself so that the record of TCC judgments on that website is kept as full and as up to date as possible.

At the meeting statistics were tabled for the numbers of claims issued during 2002. Of a total of 502 claims issued, 103 were Part 8 claims. Comparative figures for 1996 to 2002 are set out below:-

The availability now for trial dates for ordinary matters, i.e. not requiring special dates, is:-

Trials up to 4 days: February 2003 onwards
Trials up to 8 days: February 2003 onwards
Trials up to 24 days: June 2003 onwards
Trials over 28 days: October 2003 onwards

Construction disputes still represent the vast majority of TCC work, together with environmental and nuisance claims, although technology disputes are on the increase.

There is a possibility of a TCC seminar being organised by the Judicial Studies Board, to which members of the profession may be invited. Topic suggestions are welcome; please send them to the Hon. Mr Justice Forbes at St. Dunstan's House.

The next meeting of the TCC Users Committee will take place on 25 June; if there are any items which you would like Victoria Russell to raise on your behalf at that meeting, please let her know by e-mail on victoriarussell@scl.org.uk

Dispute Resolution Board Foundation Annual Conference

On 23rd and 24th May, 2003, Paris will host the third annual International Conference on the use of "Dispute Boards", a unique project-oriented technique that has had remarkable success in avoiding and resolving disputes in construction and engineering projects.

The conference, organised by the "Dispute Resolution Board Foundation" ("DRBF") will examine the use of this technique, which is already contained in World Bank and FIDIC contracts for international construction procurement. Full details will be available shortly but for advance registration for the conference (open to all interested persons) please contact drbf.fra@wanadoo.fr

Dispute Resolution Guidance

As you may know, the Office of Government Commerce has recently published a document on Dispute Resolution Guidance together with the Lord Chancellor's Pledge on ADR for Government procurement. These may be found on the Office of Government Commerce's website, www.ogc.gov.uk

If you have any comments on these documents, they should be forwarded to Roger Hankey, Construction Division, Property and Construction Directorate of the OGC; his e-mail address is roger.hankey@ogc.gsi.gov.uk

CIC ADR Directory - January 2003 update

The only place where you can find all this information conveniently assembled, this Directory gives full details of no fewer than 33 bodies offering adr services to the construction industry (for example, maintaining lists of mediators, appointing mediators and setting up mediations, offering accommodation, training courses etc). Full contact details are given, a description of the organisation and its particular characteristics, and the services provided. It includes regional, national and international bodies, and those specialising in construction as well as those dealing with all types of commercial disputes. Some have small panels and others have substantial numbers on their lists - the Directory will also tell you whether the lists of mediators are published, either in hard copy or on the web.

First published in 2001, an addendum now updates all the entries as at January 2003. Copies are £7.50 plus 10% p&p, and can be obtained from Rhiannon Pugh at the Construction Industry Council, 26 Store Street, London WC1E 7BT, tel 0207 637 8692, fax 0207 580 6140, e-mail rpugh@cic.org.uk

Environment Agency Website

The Environment Agency has launched a new website called NETREGS, giving clear guidance and advice on all legislation governing the construction sector.

Use of the site is free and aims to make it easy for clients and the supply side to find their way through the every growing mound of legislation covering the environmental aspects of construction.

The website address is www.environment-agency.gov.uk/netregs

CUBATG Guidance for Adjudicators

This Guidance, launched by the Construction Minister Brian Wilson MP on 23rd July 2002, is now available on the SCL website as a pdf file. Drafted and published by the pan-industry Construction Umbrella Bodies Adjudication Task Group, it arises out of the review of the Scheme and Construction Act and covers a number of specific issues raised in that review. It is essential reading for all adjudicators - and others involved in adjudication too.

University of California

The University of California is running a number of international law courses in Summer 2003 that they think might be of interest to members of SCL.

The courses include "Orientation in USA Law" providing a four week overview of the US legal system, a two week "Structuring and international joint venture" course and also their "Summer Master of Arts Degree in International Commercial Law", which entails attending courses over a six week period during 3-5 consecutive summers.

Further information about the University and its various courses may be found on its website www.law.ucdavis.edu

Links with Barcelona

The current President of the European Society for Construction Law, Prof Dr Alfonso Hernandez Moreno is seeking to expand the list of law firms affiliated to the Masters of International Law, which course is run by the ISDE and University of Barcelona. During part of the study period, Masters degree students find placements with the affiliated firms. For more information please contact Christopher Miers, christophermiers@scl.org.uk

Discount offer to Members

SCL members can get a 15% discount on either the single login rate or the two-concurrent login rate for the online Building Law Information Subscription Service (BLISS). A free two-week trial is also being offered to members. For further details, contact Jonathan Daymond directly on 020 7284 8080 or jonathan.daymond@context.co.uk and quote the reference code BL2.

Telephone number change

Please note that the telephone number for Arul Selvaratnam, Regional Organiser for Birmingham, has changed. It is now: 01952 825 419 or mobile number 07932 651134.

SCL Membership

Finally, we are pleased to welcome the following new members to the Society during January:

Regional Coordinators

Are you moving? Will your contact details change? Do we have your email address? Please tell Membership Administration so that we can keep our records up to date.

Membership/Administration
67 Newbury Street
Wantage, Oxon., OX12 8DJ
Tel: 01235 770606
Fax: 01235 770580
Email