Dispute Resolution Centre Launched in Antigua and Barbuda

Antigua and Barbuda’s first dispute resolution centre, Carib Resolve Dispute Resolution Centre, was officially launched on Wednesday at the Precision Centre before an audience of judiciary members, attorneys, and representatives from across the business community.

The centre is the vision of attorney Elizabeth Laviscount, a partner at May Knight Laviscount & Partners, who serves as Founder and Managing Director. Addressing guests at the launch, Laviscount opened with a familiar saying to frame her point. “There is a saying that all roads lead to Rome but when it comes to disputes, we have perhaps become accustomed to believing that there is only one road worth traveling.”

Laviscount said the centre’s purpose goes beyond simply offering an alternative to litigation. “Our vision is therefore not simply to establish a center,” she said. “It is to help build a culture of resolution — here at home, and ultimately across our region.” She added that the centre’s starting point is Antigua, but its reach is intended to extend across the Caribbean, where people “do business together, invest together, build together” across borders.

She also spoke to the values that will guide the centre’s work. “We want to create a space in which titles and positions do not determine whose voice matters most,” Laviscount said, “because effective dialogue requires people to be heard.”

Carib Resolve operates from a physical office at Warner Road, Fort Road, where individuals and businesses can make inquiries and determine which dispute resolution process best suits their situation. The centre can also be reached remotely through its website, www.caribresolve.org, and draws on a team of qualified local and regional mediators and arbitrators covering commercial, employment, construction, insurance, personal injury, and family and estate matters.

The evening’s feature address, titled “From Conflict to Collaboration: The Evolving Role of Alternative Dispute Resolution in Modern Society,” was delivered by Justice Birnie Stephenson, a judge of the High Court with nearly four decades of legal and judicial experience across the region. Justice Stephenson opened with a quote from Joseph Grynbaum: “An ounce of mediation is worth a pound of arbitration and a ton of litigation.”

Justice Stephenson went on to describe the human cost of the traditional court process. “The reality is mediation costs approximately 40 to 60 percent less than litigation,” she said, “and perhaps most tellingly, mediation has a greater satisfaction rate, where most litigants, court users, and customers feel the process was fair — even if they didn’t get what they wanted.”

She went on to describd a settlement she brokered involving a family locked in conflict for over 26 years. “I stepped out of the box and I settled a matter that was a family that’s been in conflict for over 26 years here in Antigua,” she said, “and we are on our way to full settlement.”

She closed her address with a broader reflection: “Life is short, and relationships matter.”

A special presentation followed from Theo Jones, attorney at law and Director of Legal Services at the Caribbean Agency for Justice Solutions (CAJS). Jones opened with the story of a small contractor in St. John’s who was owed money, trusted the system, filed his claim — and waited. He also cited remarks from Justice Dennis Barrow of the Caribbean Court of Justice, who observed that “delay occurs at every stage between filing and trial, trial and judgment, judgment and appeal — and then it begins all over again on appeal.”

Jones argued the region already has the legal framework in place to support wider use of mediation. “The scaffolding is already in place, especially in the Eastern Caribbean,” he said, pointing to the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court’s court-connected mediation program. “A mediation session must be held within 45 days of a referral order, and no case may remain in mediation beyond 90 days” — a timeline he contrasted directly with the 476-day average wait to enforce a contract through the courts.

Jones closed with a reflection on what access to justice should really mean. “Access to justice is not access to a courtroom,” he said. “It is access to a resolution — timely, affordable, dignified and durable.” He confirmed CAJS will formally support Carib Resolve’s accreditation standards, mediator training, and data collection going forward.

The program also included a special address titled “The Power of Dialogue: Building Understanding Beyond Conflict,” delivered by Charlene Selkridge, a member of the Industrial Court and a mediator, followed by a roundtable discussion moderated by attorney, mediator and arbitrator Tracy Benn-Roberts. Panelists included Ralph Potter, President of The People’s Union; Charlene Selkridge; and attorney Kemar Roberts, a partner at One Legal Caribbean Law Firm.