26 Feb 1999 Branch Annual Dinner

The Branch weather held again; we arrived in increasingly heavy rain. That could not have been the sole reason that only one in forty members turned out to greet our guests in such august surroundings. After introductory drinks and a leisurely meal, Branch Chairman David Parker welcomed our guests, who included HHJ Anthony & Mrs Thornton, District Judge Michael Walker, Secretary-elect of the Association of District Judges (a body with which we seek closer connection), and Mrs Walker, Clifford Dann FRICS, Chairman of ARBRIX and Mrs Dann. Deputy Secretary-General David Griffiths, representing HQ, gave a brilliant, witty and largely extempore speech, the serious part of which was that arbitrations, both consumer and ad hoc (pace the Lord Chancellor, who deprecates the use of Latin!) are increasing in numbers, despite the two 1996 Acts. His Honour Judge Peter Bowsher replied on behalf of the guests in more (but not altogether) serious vein: his main thrust was that the Chartered Institute had to make serious efforts to educate the wider public in the virtues and use of arbitration. Verb Sap!