Seminar on monetary claims and arbitration in Jaffna

Tuesday, 7 October 2014 00:03 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

A seminar on Monetary Claims and Arbitration, jointly organised by the Sri Lanka National Arbitration Centre (SLNAC), the Chamber of Commerce and Industries in Yalpanam (CCIY) and the Institute of Engineers – Sri Lanka, Northern Provincial Centre, was held on 20 September at the Hatton National Bank (HNB) Auditorium in Jaffna.

This is probably the first time that a seminar on arbitration has been organised in Jaffna or the northern peninsula. The following distinguished speakers addressed the gathering: Monetary Claims & Arbitration – Hiran de Alwis, Senior Attorney-at-Law and Chartered Arbitrator and Chief Executive/Chief Legal Advisor/Board Member-of the Sri Lanka National Arbitration Centre; Enforcement of Arbitration Awards – Dinal Phillips, President’s Counsel; Importance of Contracts for Construction – Archt. Harsha Fernando, President-elect of the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects. The seminar commenced shortly after 9 a.m. with the traditional pottu being applied and lighting of the oil lamp. The welcome speech was delivered by the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industries in Yalpanam, Poornachandran. This was followed by an introduction about the Sri Lanka National Arbitration Centre by SLNAC Chief Operations Officer Johann Atapattu.

The panel discussion went on for well over 90 minutes. Several queries and clarifications were made regarding contract documentation, monetary claims and the procedures for recovery of monies through arbitrations and courts. Indications and the response suggested that there was a lot of keenness and a thirst for knowledge about the arbitration process. The participants consisted of contractors, people from the Chamber of Commerce and the IESL. The vote of thanks was delivered by Institute of Engineers Chairman Dr. S. Sivakumar together with Eng. N. Nantharupan.