Scottish arbitration head appointed to IBA committee role

Andrew Mackenzie, chief executive of the Scottish Arbitration Centre, has been appointed co-vice chair of the International Bar Association Access to Justice & Legal Aid Committee.

The committee gathers information from around the world on the barriers to access to justice in each jurisdiction and ways in which these barriers are overcome. It serves as a central coordinating point within the IBA for matters relating to access to justice and legal aid. It has two co-chairs, Lucy Scott-Moncrieff (England) and Mark Woods (Australia); the other co-vice chair is Heike Lörcher (Belgium).

Mr Mackenzie is a solicitor on secondment from the Scottish Government Justice Directorate at the Scottish Arbitration Centre and is also Secretary General of the International Centre of Energy Arbitration. He said:

“I am delighted to have been selected by the IBA as Co-Vice Chair for the Access to Justice and Legal Aid Committee. One of the great strengths of the IBA is its global reach, which is key to the committee’s objective of sharing and spreading good practice on access to justice around the world. The differing approaches to seeking access to justice provide a valuable source of ideas and information for jurisdictions struggling to maintain or improve access to justice.

"I have been involved in the committee for almost two years now. We have been involved in some important research work, alongside the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law, publishing reports on Legal Aid in Criminal Cases and Redress for Victims of Violence and Barriers to Access to Justice. The most recent research project looked at Children and Access to Justice, with the report launched at IBA Washington DC last year. It featured an analysis of the systemic barriers and solutions within the operation of criminal, civil and administrative justice systems. After England, Scotland had the highest response rate for this survey, indicating that Scotland is keen to continue contributing to this research and to have its input heard on the international stage. I am particularly delighted that Scotland featured so prominently in the report, highlighting Scotland’s place as a key legal jurisdiction on the international stage, and hope this will continue in our future surveys."