As a foundation, the SGOA’s only ‘body’ is its board. Foundations do not have members. Consequently, companies or other organizations do not need to be affiliated to SGOA in any way in order to make use of SGOA’s services for the resolution of disputes. The SGOA board consists of five people: Hanneke Slager, LL.M., chairman; Peter van Schelven, LL.M., secretary; Pieter Coenen, treasurer, Jan Oord, C.M., board member and Pieter Schoehuijs, Ir., board member. According to the articles of association, SGOA’s board is tasked with governing the foundation in the widest sense. Thus the board determines the rules of procedure, amending them where necessary, and it is also responsible for financial affairs. The board also decides what to do in situations that have not been catered for in the rules of procedure.
SGOA’s executive unit is its office. The office operates independently but the SGOA board has ultimate responsibility for the work it carries out. The SGOA office is run by Heleen van Beugen, the office manager. From the moment a procedure starts, the office functions as the ‘nerve centre’. Its tasks include the following: selecting arbitrators, mediators and experts for specific procedures (on behalf of the board) and drawing up the letters of appointment for these individuals; conducting correspondence with the parties in a procedure, partly on its own initiative and partly at the request and according to the instructions of the arbitrators, mediators and experts who have been appointed; keeping in contact with arbitrators, mediators and experts; arranging meeting locations; billing the parties and collecting the amounts payable by the parties; keeping records of procedures in the administrative system; monitoring deadlines based on the information in the administrative system ; filing complete or partial final rulings with the court registry.
At the heart of SGOA are the lawyers and experts on SGOA’s list, all individuals who excel in their field of expertise. All the lawyers have specialized to some degree in ICT law while the experts have a clear affinity with legal matters. We set stringent requirements for their expertise, experience and - above all - independence. The lawyers and experts are not ‘members’ of SGOA: they operate independently of the board and bear ultimate responsibility for the rulings, the settlement agreements, the recommendations and the expert reports produced by them.