Claire Packman & Jennie Gillies

If there is one theme which runs through the articles which feature in this quarter’s newsletter it is that the world is one surprising place.

With the season of goodwill almost upon us, this double edition of the Adjudication Society’s newsletter provides something of the Past, Present, and Yet to Come reminiscent of Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol.

It has turned out to be a bad quarter for the Construction Industry, with the Office of National Statistics blaming the nation’s fall back into recession on a 3% decrease in construction. The construction data was said to have been based on a survey of 8,000 construction companies.

Parties to adjudication disputes rarely agree on much but what they do agree on is significant; first, they want an adjudication process and result which is fair and just and secondly, they do not wish to pay an arm and a leg to reach that end goal. How can adjudicators and party representatives ensure that these two elements are achieved?

It is fitting that the introduction of the amendments to statutory adjudication in England, Wales and Scotland should coincide with a changing of the guard amongst this newsletter’s editorial team.