TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL: WHY NEW ZEALAND’S RANKING MATTERS
By Catherine Green
The rule of law is profoundly important for a fair and functioning justice system to underpin effective international dispute resolution. It is beyond argument that New Zealand is highly respected globally as an independent and lawful jurisdiction for international arbitration and mediation. Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index for 2018 has again ranked New Zealand first in the Asia-Pacific Region. Slipping one place back globally but still coming in second after Denmark, the results confirm again that New Zealand provides an ideal, neutral and independent seat/venue for international dispute resolution. With 22 out of the 30 Asia Pacific countries included in the index scoring less than 50 out of 100 (and 18 scoring less than 40), New Zealand stands out as a clear leader in the region and globally. These most recent rankings also reflect the World Justice Project Rule of Law Index. On 31 January 2018, the World Justice Project Rule of Law Index ranked New Zealand in 7th place globally (up one place from 2016) and 1st in the East Asia & Pacific Region. The Index is the world’s most comprehensive dataset of its kind and serves as an independent quantitative tool that measures countries’ adherence to the rule of law in practice. THE PRACTICE OF INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION AND MEDIATION IN NEW ZEALAND These rankings come as little surprise to those of us practising in New Zealand who already understand the benefits of New Zealand as a seat for international dispute resolution. Moreover, the importance cannot be overstated. We frequently receive enquiries from both commercial entities and their legal counsel looking to ensure that any commercial disputes are resolved with the reassurance that any outcomes are underpinned by access to legal systems and practices which are free of corruption and supported by the rule of law. New Zealand has been at the forefront of the development of modern arbitration legislation having enacted in 1996 a modern statute (the Arbitration Act 1996) based on the UNCITRAL Law on International Commercial Arbitration (the Model law). When the Arbitration Amendment Act 2007 came into force on 18 October 2007, New Zealand became the first country in the world to adopt the whole of the new UNCITRAL legislative provisions on interim measures and preliminary orders with only a few minor modifications. New Zealand has been a signatory to the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, New York, 1958 (the New York Convention) since 1983. New Zealand’s courts are independent of the state, efficient, and of the highest integrity. New Zealand courts offer strong judicial support for arbitration, upholding arbitration agreements and applying the Arbitration Act in accordance with its principal underlying themes of party autonomy; reduced judicial involvement in the arbitral process; consistency with laws from other jurisdictions; and, increased powers for the arbitral tribunal. Part 17 of the High Court Rules supplements the Arbitration Act by setting out certain procedural rules for court proceedings in relation to arbitral matters.