Caribbean Task Force

The Americas Initiative launched the Caribbean Task Force at the 2021 ITA-ALARB Americas Workshop on 8-9 September 2021, with the following core objectives:

• To raise awareness of and advance international arbitration practice throughout the Caribbean, specifically targeting the legal and business sectors, as well as the judiciaries of the Caribbean region.
• To promote good international arbitration practices in the Caribbean, and to raise awareness of and challenge any perceived deficiencies of existing laws and practices in the region. One of our tangible goals will be to ensure that countries in the Caribbean have adopted the Model law and are knowledgeable on best practices regarding its implementation.
• To encourage the active participation of arbitration stakeholders in the Caribbean with the ITA Americas Initiative, and the ITA more generally.

The Task Force is co-led by Hon. Barry Leon FCIArb (Arbitration Place, 33 Bedford Row Chambers, Caribbean Arbitrators) and Mr. Calvin Hamilton C.Arb (Arbitra International, hamilton arbitration). It also comprises associate member Ms. Theomonique Nottage, Deputy Chair (Consultant, Government of The Bahamas).

Caribbean Task Force Leadership

Calvin A. Hamilton, C.Arb, Co-Chair (Arbitra International, hamilton arbitration). Calvin is a Chartered Arbitrator with more than 30 years’ experience. He has sat as arbitrator under ICC, ICDR, LCIA, Madrid Court of Arbitration, Zurich Chamber of Commerce, Hungarian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and UNCITRAL Rules in a variety of seats located in the Caribbean, Latin America, USA, Africa and Europe. He serves as an adjudicator on DABs in international construction contracts governed by the suite of FIDIC Conditions of Contract. Calvin is a Member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration. His expertise and knowledge lie in Investor State and Commercial disputes arising from administrative and public law, retail and consumer, energy and natural resources, mergers & acquisitions, cross border transactions including distribution, agency, franchise and transfer agreements, and acquisition of assets and/or shares. His primary focus is on the Caribbean, Latin America, London, Continental Europe and the US. Calvin’s experience includes common law and civil law which he developed in his practice in Spain, the Commonwealth Caribbean, including Guyana and Barbados, and the US. He is fluent in Spanish, proficient in French and has working knowledge of Portuguese. He is a dual national of Guyana and Spain and admitted in New York and Madrid.

Hon. Barry Leon, FCIArb, Co-Chair (Arbitration Place, 33 Bedford Row Chambers, Caribbean Arbitrators). Barry is an independent arbitrator and mediator, and is on the American Arbitration Association’s National Roster of Arbitrators. For a three-year term (2015–2018), Barry was Presiding Judge of the BVI Commercial Court. Barry is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb) and an International Mediation Institute Certified Mediator. He is a past Chair and active member of ICC Canada’s Arbitration Committee, member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR and Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. He is a member of the BVI Arbitration Group and its governing Committee; International Trust Arbitration Organisation’s Research Council; Organizing Committee Executive, Canadian Arbitration Week (CanArbWeek); Ontario Arbitration Act Review Committee of Toronto Commercial Arbitration Society; and North America Sub-Committee, Campaign for Greener Arbitrations, and was Organizing Committee Chair for its global workshop, “Shaping the Future of Greener Arbitration Conferences and Training”. Barry is an Executive Editor of the Canadian Journal of Commercial Arbitration, an OGEMID Co-Moderator, and Chair of Arbitration Place’s Advisory Board. Before 2015, Barry was Partner and Head, International Arbitration Group at Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall. Until 2009, he was a Partner with Torys LLP in its Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice, and for many years, Practice Coordinator. Barry is a recipient of CPR International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution’s “Award for Outstanding Contribution to Diversity in ADR”.

Barry was admitted to the Bar in Ontario, Canada (now non-practicing member). He holds a law degree (University of Toronto), MBA (Richard Ivey School of Business, Western University), and BA (University of Alberta).

Theominique Nottage, MCIArb, Deputy Chair (Consultant, Government of the Bahamas). Theominique holds a Bachelor of Arts with Integral Honours in International Studies and Spanish (Le Moyne College - Syracuse, New York), a Bachelor of Laws with Honours (The University of the West Indies - Cave Hill, Barbados), and a Master of Laws with Merit in Comparative and International Dispute Resolution (Queen Mary, University of London - London, England, United Kingdom). She has studied Spanish at Centro Panamericano de Idiomas in Costa Rica and the Universidad de Salamanca in Spain. Theominique has worked in the public and private sectors with professional experience in civil, commercial and trusts litigation, intellectual property matters and arbitration. Theominique has a passion for international arbitration and presently works as a Consultant to the Government of The Bahamas on matters of international arbitration and other alternative dispute resolution processes. She is committed to her professional development and has held leadership positions in several professional organisations, including Young ICCA Co-Chair 2019 - 2021.

Final Report and Recommendations

The Final Report and Recommendations of the Task Force, dated 12 June 2023, includes The Task Forces’ conclusions and its recommendations on the role that the ITA should play in the Caribbean.

It recommends the following “Initial ITA Priorities in and for the Caribbean”:

1.  Model Law implementation
2.  Capacity building among legal practitioners
3.  Judicial education and training in arbitration
4.  Assisting legal educators in the Caribbean
5.  Raising the profile of Caribbean arbitration in the Americas

The Final Report and Recommendations of the Task Force are available here.

The ITA Americas Initiative Caribbean Task Force wishes to thank Ms. Hana Doumal and Mr. Alexander Barnes for their valuable contribution to the work of the Task Force.