50th issue of News
& Views
There are many warm
words in the early pages of this number about the achievement of 50 issues of News
& Views, so I shall add little to them here. I shall just say that
I share the admiration others have expressed for my predecessors (and not least
for Peter Horne, still my co editor) on account of all the determination, hard
work and good judgement that they have deployed over the years to make this
achievement possible.
The costs of postage
normally limit us to an issue of 24 pages plus cover. Your Branch Committee
debated whether to celebrate the newsletter’s jubilee by splashing out on a
cover in colour, or by authorising a weightier issue up to the next postal
threshold. Sensibly the Committee opted for substance over glamour; so here you
have a jubilee issue of 44 pages, whose weight I hope you will measure not only
in grams but in stimulation and enjoyment.
Not only do we have jubilee messages from the President of the Chartered
Institute, from former editors and from a fraternal publisher interarb;
we also have more of the features you normally expect: more news, more
trailers, more articles, more pages from our Chairman – and even twice as many
puzzles! So, good reading! And to make the editors' joy complete, write in to
us with your own views on this or that.
In the last issue my
editorial focused on the Chartered Institute’s strategic review of September
2000, which led to the Council’s ―endorsement of a 5-year programme of change.
I said I would invite Headquarters to give us their view on progress. This I
have done. The response from the Chairman of the Executive Board is printed on
page 21. Achievement so far is impressive, I think you will agree. The main
items missing from Mr Campbell’s list seem to be –
l improvement in
arrangements for pupillage – but the President told us in person in September
(page 13) that reducing the numbers awaiting pupillage was his personal target
for the year;
l investigating
members’ concern over constricted panel membership and the limitation of
appointments to too small a circle – the continuing perception that the
Institute does not help the generality of members as well as it could to secure
appointments is a matter that our Branch Chairman mentions in his Chairman’s
page immediately before this editorial;
l providing funds for
tutors;
l encouraging young
arbitrators;
l reviewing
continuous professional development (CPD);
l encouraging
systematic delegation of tasks to Branches, in accordance with Branch business
plans;
l increasing the
involvement of the Institute in policymaking in the UK and internationally –
though, as is recognised on page 23, the Institute, together with European
Branch, has seized the opportunity offered by the European Commission to
comment on their consultative paper on alternative dispute resolution (ADR);
and
l developing a
research capability.
It is
fair of the Executive Board Chairman to point out that we are still only just
over two years into a five year programme. I am sure we all wish the Executive
Board, the Council and the staff of the Institute well in progressing these
tasks during the remaining period. I am
also sure that many of us are prepared to offer our help with the outstanding
work, should that be of use. We shall
be encouraged to receive further bulletins from time to time.
In the
meantime if any of you, our readers, have any comments or suggestions to offer,
do send them in, and we shall pass them on as appropriate.
Roger Clarke