Where clause 1 of Schedule 2 applies, it provides a quick and effective means of securing the appointment of an arbitral tribunal in the face of delay or obfuscation by another party to the arbitration agreement, avoiding the need, time, and cost of having to apply to the High Court under article 11 of Schedule 1. Note that article 11 of Schedule 1 applies to an international arbitration unless the parties have expressly opted into clause 1 of Schedule 2 of the Act. Under section 6(2) of the Act, Schedule 2 of the Act applies to an international arbitration only if the parties so agree. Upcoming amendments to the Act The Arbitration Amendment Act 2016 comes in to force on 1 March 2017. The Act states that [t]he Minister of Justice must, by notice in the Gazette, appoint a suitably qualified body to resolve the matters specified in article 11(3) to (6) of Schedule 1 of the Act. This means that the Minister of Justice will appoint a nominating body to take the place of the High Court in making default appointments under Schedule 1 of the Act. The impact of this amendment is relatively minor as, for the reasons set out above, the article 11 Schedule 1 procedure for appointments will only infrequently be applicable. How can you avoid the problem altogether? The answer to this one is really quite simple. All you need to do is ensure that your contracts have effective arbitration clauses included in them – not the outdated, complicated, multi-tiered, and often unenforceable dispute resolution clauses we frequently see in use. Too often we hear of parties and their advisers spending valuable time and money making numerous enquiries as to whether various arbitrators are willing and available to accept appointment, without necessarily having any true insight as to those arbitrators’ experience and ability. Instead of adopting this approach, they could simply agree to arbitrate under NZDRC’s or NZIAC’s arbitration rules which provide, among other things, for an appointment to be made by NZDRC (or NZIAC) in the event the parties are unable to agree within ten working days from service of the Notice of Arbitration under the general arbitration rules and five working days under the expedited arbitration rules. The NZDRC and NZIAC Registries work closely with the arbitrators on their panels, including by providing a peer review service with respect to any Award before it is made. This gives us the first-hand knowledge to independently assess who is the best arbitrator to be appointed in any given case, based on the subject-matter, value, and complexity of the dispute. Our panellists are not members, nor do they pay any fee to be on our panels; they are there strictly by invitation only, having been recognised as possessing extensive knowledge, skill, and experience in arbitration. NZDRC and NZIAC have developed comprehensive suites of Rules for Commercial Arbitration that are robust and certain, yet innovative in their commercial commonsense approach to challenging issues such as appointment, urgent interim relief, expedited procedures, joinder, consolidation, multiple contracts, confidentiality, representation, mediation, expert evidence, appeals, and costs. The Rules provide both a framework and detailed provisions to ensure the efficient and cost effective resolution of commercial disputes. They are set out in a manner designed to facilitate ease of use, and may be adopted by agreement in writing at any time before or after a dispute has arisen. The Rules are intended to give parties the widest choice and capacity to adopt fully administered procedures that are fair, prompt, and cost effective, and which provide a proportionate response to the amounts in dispute and the complexity of the issues involved.