Thursday, March 14, 2013, 3pmPRESS RELEASE: ARBITRATORS’ AND MEDIATORS’ INSTITUTE OF NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand experts named as global cultural conciliators

Two of the country’s most prestigious conciliators have been named as New Zealand representatives for the UN-sponsored resolution of international property disputes.

Sir Ian Barker, QC, and Phillip D. Green join the roll of global mediators working with UNESCO in settling international cultural property disputes in the framework of the Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in case of Illicit Appropriation.

This Paris-based intergovernmental committee was established in 1976 by UNESCO, the only United Nations organisation with a mandate to safeguard cultural items.

Sir Ian is an Auckland-based arbitrator and mediator. Mr Green, a Wellington-based mediator, arbitrator, adjudicator and barrister, until recently was an adjunct professor of alternative dispute resolution at Massey University and currently is Director of its Dispute Resolution Centre. Both are past presidents of the Arbitrators’ and Mediators’ Institute of New Zealand (AMINZ).

UNESCO’s aim is to make use of the world’s best mediation and conciliation expertise to assist in finalising the return of significant items of international heritage to the relevant parties.

Appointments are contingent, however, on proven “mastery in matters of restitution, resolution dispute and other specific characteristics of the protection of cultural property” on the part of the nominees.

Both men were nominated to their latest positions by the country’s agency for dispute resolution professionals, the Arbitrators’ and Mediators’ Institute of New Zealand.

“We are thrilled to have played a part in this process,” Deborah Hart, the Institute’s Executive Director, said. “Not only do Sir Ian and Mr Green personify why New Zealand enjoys the reputation it does as a fair and honest international broker, their respective resumes also show the incredible expertise we have available in this country.”

[ENDS]

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