The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators was founded as the Institute of Arbitrators on 1 March 1915 and became registered as a
charity in the
United Kingdom in 1990. It was founded as an
unincorporated association by H.C. Emery (a solicitor and chartered secretary), F.M. Burr (an architect), I. W. Bullen (an accountant), A. Powells (profession unknown) and A. Stevens (a solicitor). The aim of the institute was 'to raise the status of Arbitration to the dignity of a distinct and recognised position as one of the learned professions. (left), first president of the institute, with
Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din (1913). The first secretary of CIArb was H.C. Emery, one of the founders, and the first offices were at 32
Old Jewry, London EC2. The first president, elected in June 1915, was
Rowland Allanson-Winn, 5th Baron Headley, a
consulting engineer. Since then there have been eight further secretaries, secretaries general or directors general and fifty-four presidents or honorary presidents. In around 1920 the offices of the institute moved to
Old Broad Street, and in April 1925 it became an incorporated body limited by guarantee. Further moves took place to Norfolk Street WC2,
Bedford Square WC1,
Portland Place W1 and in 1965 to
Park Crescent W1. In 1975 the institute moved into premises in
Cannon Street EC4, where it remained until the move to Angel Gate EC1 in 1990. Then in January 2001 it acquired the
freehold of 12
Bloomsbury Square and moved in the following month. In 1975 arbitration activities of the institute merged with the
London Court of Arbitration; the institute and the London Court of Arbitration eventually demerged in 1986. The institute entered into an association with the
London Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the
City Corporation to create a Joint Committee of Management, on which all three bodies were equally represented. In 1979 the institute was incorporated by
Royal Charter and
Bye-laws Royal Charter was granted to the institute, which set the seal on recognition of the institute as a
learned body. 1981 saw the creation of the
Worshipful Company of Arbitrators, ranked ninety-third in the list of City
livery companies. In July 1990 CIArb became a charitable body whose main object is to promote and facilitate the determination of disputes by arbitration and alternative means of dispute resolution, other than resolution by the courts. A number of measures to further this object were established amongst which were affording means of communication between members of the institute and others concerned with arbitration and alternative means of dispute resolution, providing training and education at all levels for those practising or wishing to practise as arbitrators and providing means for testing the qualifications of candidates for admission to professional membership of the institute by examination. , 12 Bloomsbury Square (2008) The Royal Charter has been updated in 1999, 2005 and 2023. In 1999 a new category of member was introduced so that the membership categories are now Associate, Member and
Fellow. At the same time a new qualification of
Chartered Arbitrator was introduced as the highest level of qualification for an arbitrator. Many changes were made to the Royal Charter in 2005, the principal of which were the giving of a greater say in the management of the institute to members resident outside
England and Wales and the replacement of the Council by a regionally elected
Board of Trustees. In 2023, the Royal Charter was amended again, to allow for the appointment of up to 5 trustees, to subsume the Board of Management into the Board of Trustees and to create a new Chartered Adjudicator qualification. In addition to its educational activities, the institute offers bespoke schemes for consumer and commercial markets for non-judicial resolution of disputes. These include the Personal Insurance Arbitration Service. The institute also offers nominating and appointing services for
ad hoc arbitration,
adjudication and mediation that are often used by parties in
arbitration clauses as a means of selecting a single, neutral arbitrator. == Education, training and professional qualifications ==