For over a decade, diversity in the field of arbitration in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (“KSA”) has been on a positive trajectory. In 2012, the Saudi Arbitration Law (Royal Decree No. M/34) came into force and, unlike its predecessor of 1983, did not contain any requirements regarding the arbitrator’s gender. Subsequently, in 2016, the…
The DIS Autumn Conference, held on 10 September 2024, was the main event of the Berlin Dispute Resolution Days, which took place from 9 to 12 September 2024 and were jointly organized by the German Arbitration Institute (DIS), the Federal Ministry of Justice, and the Humboldt University in Berlin. Set against the vibrant backdrop of…
Day 3 of the London International Disputes Week (“LIDW”) featured an extensive discussion (the “Arbitral Institutions’ Congress”) by representatives of various arbitral institutions at the historic Parliament Chamber at Middle Temple co-hosted by McNair, Clyde & Co, and Osborne Clarke. The present post summarises the discussions held during the event. Statistics and Views From…
For the centenary anniversary of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, this year’s ICC New York Conference on International Arbitration convened over 330 international arbitration practitioners, in-house counsel, academics, students, and outside counsel from 36 countries in the heart of New York City. As ICC Secretary General John W. H. Denton highlighted in his opening…
Efforts to promote diversity in arbitration continue to garner awareness and support from arbitral institutions, legal practitioners, experts, and the arbitration community in general (see e.g., here and here). Unconscious bias is a significant barrier to achieving greater diversity and can hinder opportunities, progression, and careers. It is often tricky to address because, as its…
Days 2 and 3 of the LIDW 2023 saw insightful discussions on three hot topics in international arbitration, i.e. corruption, diversity and efficiency. This post summarizes discussions held during two events: “Corruption in International Arbitration: Challenges and Approaches” held on Day 2, and “Increasing Diversity and Efficiency in the Resolution of Construction and Engineering Disputes”…
In recent years, there has been a drive in the international arbitration community to further diversify the pool of professionals who work in international arbitration (arbitrators and counsel alike). Most recently, this has taken form in the publication of gender diversity statistics (see, e.g., the ICC’s dispute resolution statistics 2020 or the ICCA’s 2022 Gender…
Few people can pride themselves with a career as rich and impactful as that of the Honorable L. Yves Fortier, PC CC, OQ, KC, Ad. E., LLD and no summary will do it justice. Counsel, negotiator, arbitrator, diplomat, thought leader – these are just some of the hats Mr. Fortier has worn over the years….
In 2022, the international arbitration community took several further impactful steps towards building awareness of diversity challenges in the profession and towards improving existing disparities. As previously discussed on this Blog here and here, an intersectional analysis of diversity is important to evaluate how each minority is faring, individually and when intersected with each other….
It was St Martin’s Eve on 10 November 2022, a day also known in Sweden as “Martin’s goose” (Sw. Mårtensgås). As the Swedish name suggests, the St Martin’s Eve custom involves a three-course goose dinner in which all parts of the goose are used and finished with apple cake. It is particularly popular in Scania…
Civilization is a progress from an indefinite, incoherent homogeneity toward a definite, coherent heterogeneity. Henry Spencer International arbitration professionals are a strikingly homogenous population, as our recent 360 degree overview demonstrated. The demographic markers typically used to arrive at this conclusion are age, race, gender and national origin. While these fundamental indicators merit continued…
A study published in 2012 revealed that only 15 arbitrators decided 55% of the 450 investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) cases reported at that time, most of them practitioners from Europe, USA or Canada. This was the case despite the fact that parties from all over the world were involved in those proceedings. To date, according…
This year, the arbitration team at SOAS consisting of Emilia Onyema, Steven Finizio and Baiju Vasani in cooperation with the African Legal Support Facility of the African Development Bank, organised and delivered four separate “counsel in arbitration skills-based training” workshops in collaboration with four arbitral centres in Africa: in Lagos (LACIAC), Douala (CMAG), Kigali (KIAC)…
Caroline Kenny KC is a barrister, mediator, and arbitrator. She has over 30 years’ experience in commercial disputes. In 2008 she was appointed as King’s Counsel and has since been recognised as a Chartered Arbitrator – the only female Chartered Arbitrator in Australia. Caroline’s arbitration experience therefore spans across various roles within international commercial arbitration…
The international arbitration community has made progress on improving diversity across the field, but continues to fall short on appointing diverse international arbitration tribunals. Experts point to a range of reasons for the lack of diversity in international arbitration tribunals, chief among which is the lack of an experienced pool, coupled with the reluctance of…
The first Colombian Arbitration Week was launched last week in Bogotá. The closing event comprised a panel discussing new challenges and perspectives of arbitration in Colombia. The discussion was moderated by Anne Mürrle (Partner, Mürrle Asesores) with the following panelists Cristina Mejía (Partner, Baker McKenzie), José Miguel Mendoza (Partner, DLA Piper), David Araque (Partner, Gómez…
International Law Talk is a series of podcasts through which Wolters Kluwer provides the latest news and industry insights from thought leaders and experts in the fields of International Arbitration, IP Law, International Tax Law and Competition Law. Here at Kluwer Arbitration Blog, we highlight the podcasts focused on international arbitration. In this latest episode,…
The first full day of the ICCA Congress took place on Monday, September 19. Delegates gathered early in the morning for a keynote speech by Louise Arbour, former Canadian diplomat, Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, High Commissioner for Refugees, Chief Prosecutor for the Yugoslavia and Rwanda Tribunals and current Senior Counsel at BLG….
The 2022 ICCA Congress kicks off today in Edinburgh. Together with our Host Committee, the Scottish Arbitration Centre, and my Congress co-chair and immediate past ICCA President Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler, it is an honor to declare the XXVth ICCA Congress officially open! Arbitration’s Age of Enlightenment? The XXVth ICCA Congress has been seven years in the…
Ms Lucy Reed is a full-time arbitrator and a Visiting Professor at National University of Singapore. Previously, she was the Co-Head of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s Global International Arbitration Group. Her prior experience includes acting as the US Agent to the Iran-US Claims Tribunal and as General Counsel of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (“KEDO”). …
In her blog post on 27 February 2022, Kiran Nasir Gore expressed measured optimism regarding the international arbitration (IA) community’s collective progress towards greater diversity especially over the last few years. She highlighted various recent initiatives and developments including Racial Equality for Arbitration Lawyers (REAL), the Rising Arbitrators Initiative (RAI) and the appointment of first…
As the field of international arbitration continues to mature, our community grows alongside it. Last year, Dr Maria Fanou and I wrote about this topic from the lens of virtual platforms. We optimistically opined that the increasingly virtual world presented an opportunity for greater collegiality and equity. In late 2020, Maguelonne de Brugiere and Cherine…
This year’s theme for the New York Arbitration Week (“NYAW”) was “getting it right.” It invited ArbitralWomen and the Young International Arbitration Practitioners of New York (YIAP-NY), the latter in partnership with the New York International Arbitration Center (NYIAC), to reflect on the challenges but also new opportunities that the past year has presented to…
As part of Canadian Arbitration Week, the 2021 ICC Canada Conference, titled Leaning into the Future, was designed to facilitate critical thinking and debate on several important topics in international arbitration. The focus of the conference was decidedly post-pandemic, exploring fault lines and cleavages in the system of international arbitration as we know it today,…
