Opening the doors of international arbitration

Young ICCA is a world-wide arbitration knowledge network for young practitioners and students, established in 2010. It aims to promote the use of arbitration by exposing new practitioners from all corners of the globe to the international practice of arbitration.

Young ICCA functions under the auspices of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA).

NEW - A lively discussion on the proposed amendments to the Dutch Arbitration Act

NEW -  YOUNG ICCA CO-HOSTS FIRST NEW YORK CONVENTION ROADSHOW IN MAURITIUS

More than a year of preparation by Young ICCA – in close cooperation with the Permanent Court of Arbitration – culminated in early May in the launch of a unique series of training sessions for judges on the New York Convention. Welcoming 35 visiting judges from Southern Africa and ICCA speakers to Mauritius for the two-day workshop on the Convention, the Mauritian Chief Justice, the Honourable Sik Yuen, noted that “the national judge cannot stay stuck in his national grooves. His judicial mind needs to become part of the transition [to effective resolution of national disputes]”. Click here to read the complete Welcome Speech.
 
Chief Justices and Judges from Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zambia joined about twenty Mauritian Supreme Court judges for the 3-4 May workshop led by ICCA member and expert on the New York Convention Albert Jan van den Berg, together with colleague and Young ICCA co-chair, Marike Paulsson. Hosted by the Mauritian Chief Justice and organized by the PCA’s outgoing representative in Mauritius, Judith Levine, together with Young ICCA co-chairs, Lise Bosman (PCA Legal Counsel) and Marike Paulsson, the workshop was held at the Trou au Biches Hotel on the Northern Mauritian coast.
 
Sessions at the Trou au Biches on the New York Convention kicked off with an overview of the cornerstones of international arbitration by Professor van den Berg before moving to an analysis by Ms. Paulsson of the tools for interpreting the Convention, followed by an article-by-article analysis punctuated by “war stories” and designed to promote best practices in interpreting and applying the Convention. The workshop closed with a final discussion and Q&A session, for which the panelists were joined by ICCA President, Jan Paulsson, who characterized the enforcement power of the Convention as “a way of giving power to our citizens to make meaningful promises” and thus promoting economic development in the Southern African region through international trade.
 
The Roadshow itself was prefaced by a large and lively joint Young ICCA-PCA Practitioners’ Training Day in the Mauritian capital Port Louis, attended by over 75 local lawyers and visitors, at which presentations were made by Jan Paulsson, Albert Jan van den Berg, Judith Levine, Lise Bosman, Fedelma Smith (incoming PCA representative in Mauritius), Marike Paulsson and local arbitration practitioners Jamsheed Peeroo and Anne-Sophie Jullienne. Local TV stations covered the story. To read more about the Training Day, click here.
 
Extensive use was made of ICCA’s 2011 Guide to the Interpretation of the 1958 New York Convention in English, Portuguese and French – with the 2012 Portuguese translation having been the work of Young ICCA members.

New - List of university courses updated

Young ICCA's comprehensive list of university courses on arbitration worldwide has been updated. Visit our Courses tab to find a course or programme near you.

Witness Statements & Document Production discussed at 2nd Peace Palace Seminar

Young ICCA Members Learn from Experienced Practitioners in Stockholm Workshop

Gathered from over 10 different countries, Young ICCA members came together on 7 March with some of the most experienced arbitration practitioners in the region for the third of Young ICCA’s skills training workshops. The Stockholm workshop provided Young ICCA members the opportunity to gain practical knowledge on two essential tools for the effective and efficient practice of arbitration: witness statements and document disclosure.

Moderators and Panelists for the workshop included Professor Dr. Kaj Hobér (Partner, Mannheimer Swartling), Noradèle Radjai (Partner, Lalive), Jakob Ragnwaldh (Partner, Mannheimer Swartling), Niuscha Bassiri (Partner, Hanotiau & van den Berg), Rostislav Pekar (Partner, Squire Sanders & Dempsey), Matthew Hodgson (Associate, Allen & Overy), Joshua Fellenbaum (Associate, Mannheimer Swartling), and Kristoffer Löf (Partner, Mannheimer Swartling).

To read a thorough report of the workshop, written by two Young ICCA members, Stefan Dudas and Brian Kotick, please click here.

Young ICCA to launch New York Convention Roadshow in Mauritius with ICCA

Young ICCA will play a key role in the launch of a series of workshops for judges on the New York Convention in Mauritius on 3-4 May 2012. The new joint ICCA-Young ICCA outreach programme – known as the “New York Convention Roadshow” – recognizes the dependence of international arbitration practice on the critical role of national court judges in applying the New York Convention. The inaugural “Roadshow” in May will be hosted by the Mauritian Chief Justice, and will offer two days of intensive workshops to members of the Mauritian judiciary and to fellow judges from other Southern African countries.

 Workshops will be led by ICCA Member Albert Jan van den Berg, one of the world’s acknowledged experts on the New York Convention, with Young ICCA co-chair, Marike Paulsson, co-author of Professor van den Berg’s long-awaited forthcoming second edition on the New York Convention. The workshop will make extensive use of ICCA’s newly published “Guide to the Interpretation of the 1958 New York Convention [hyperlink]” (in English, soon to be available in French and Portuguese, complimentary copies of which will be provided to participating judges) and of Prof. van den Berg's New York Convention website -- originally created to accompany Prof. van den Berg's classes at the University of Miami.

The NYC Roadshow will be preceded on 2 May by a Practitioner’s Training Day on international arbitration, featuring a Keynote Address by ICCA President Jan Paulsson, and including contributions by local lawyers as well as Permanent Court of Arbitration counsel (including Young ICCA co-chair Lise Bosman, and PCA Representative in Mauritius and key organizer of the Mauritian Roadshow, Judith Levine). The launch of this programme comes after a year of preparation by the Young ICCA co-chairs, in close cooperation with local organizers.

Young ICCA nominated for GAR award

Young ICCA has been nominated for a Global Arbitration Review award for the second year running -- this time for “Best Development of 2011”. Voting is now open and the winner will be announced on 8 March in Stockholm.

Young ICCA Reports back from UNCITRAL Working Group in New York

Klaus Reichert calls for debate on standard of proof for fraud and illegality

ICCA's Pocket Guide to the New York Convention Launched

ICCA's 50th anniversary conference in Geneva also saw the launch of ICCA’s Guide to the Interpretation of the 1958 New York Convention. The Guide is a clear, concise yet inclusive handbook, written in plain language, on the essential aspects of the scope, interpretation and application of the Convention. Though principally aimed at judges determining applications under the Convention, the Guide will also be of interest to students, teachers and practitioners as an introduction to the Convention.

Students can download copies of the Guide for academic use, through this link: http://www.arbitration-icca.org/publications/NYC_Guide.html

Second Young ICCA workshop in Prague a resounding success

Young ICCA successfully co-hosted a second skills training workshop in Prague on 24 October 2011 with the Co-Chairs' Circle on the topic of "Witness Statements and Document Disclosure in International Arbitration".

Young ICCA members from Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas were joined by a strong contingent of local Prague-based practitioners and enjoyed the detailed discussion led by dynamic young practitioners Martin Valasek (Norton Rose OR, Montreal), Noradèle Radjai (Lalive, Geneva), Niuscha Bassiri (Hanotiau & van den Berg, Brussels), Jan K. Schaefer (Allen & Overy, Frankfurt), Roland Ziadé (Cleary Gottlieb, Paris) and Rostislav Pekar (Squire Sanders, Prague). Prof. Bernard Hanotiau (Hanotiau & van den Berg, Brussels) played an active role during the workshop, providing the benefit of his experience to the participants.

Thanks go to the organizing committee of Jan Schaefer, Matthew Hodgson, Martin Valasek, Maria Lokajova (who attended Young ICCA's first workshop in Geneva in May), Niuscha Bassiri and Svatava Sprague, who were guided by Young ICCA's Events Coordinator, Tim Foden.

A full report with photos is included on the Prague Event page.

NEW - ICSID announces 2012 ICSID Review Student Writing Competition

ICSID invites current law students to submit an article on a procedural or substantive issue in international investment arbitration by 1 May 2012. The author of the winning submission will receive a cash prize of US$1000.00 and will have his or her essay published in a future issue of the ICSID Review. See the Student Writing Competition page for the official announcement, detailed contest rules and article submission guidelines.

First Young ICCA Workshop in Geneva Kicks off Workshop Programme

The session ended with an interview with Prof. Martin Hunter, who shared both his views on memorial-writing from the perspective of the arbitrator and some personal recollections on how he became an arbitration practitioner.

Thanks to all participants, to our faculty and to the organizers (in particular Tim Foden), who gave so generously of their time.

Co-chairs meet in Geneva to discuss plans for 2011-2012

Vis Moot Problem 2012

The Vis Moot Alumni association reports that the problem for the 2012 Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot has been published. As in recent years. the ever-growing student competition will invite thousands of students from all continents of the globe to compete in written and oral advocacy. The competition in Vienna will be taking place for the nineteenth time this year, getting close to its twentieth anniversary of promoting international commercial arbitration and trade law (29 March – 5 April 2012). Before that, the smaller but not less significant sister competition in Hong Kong will be taking place for the ninth time (18 March – 25 March 2012), inviting many teams from the Australasian region, but also from the rest of the world. Both competitions feature the arbitration rules of CIETAC.

Like every year, the moot problem challenges the students’ legal skills in two areas, both procedural and substantive.

The substantive issue encompasses a short supply of goods caused by a fire, and how the seller of the goods is liable to its customers when the fire occurred at the end of its supply chain. The case further contains the question whether ex gratia payments to customers to retain goodwill and 'success fees' (allegedly bribes) paid by the Claimant for a mitigation transaction can be part of a damages claim against the Claimant's supplier.

The procedural issue is drawn from recent heated discussions in the international arbitration community, namely, whether or not (and if so, for what grounds) opposing counsel – rather than an arbitrator – can be challenged for close connections to a member of the arbitral tribunal.

It will be exciting to see what the students make of these points and, no less important, what they make of the opportunity to meet and mingle with thousands of fellow Mooties from all jurisdictions and cultures at social events. Experience shows that friendships and networks will grow that span the globe.

This is not only true for the students, but also for young professionals who participate in the moot as arbitrators and coaches, who will again have the chance to choose from a great variety of receptions, social functions and conferences both on arbitration and the CISG.

Particularly the Willem C. Vis (East) Moot in Hong Kong is still inviting young professionals to register as arbitrators for the competition. Interested practitioners can visit www.cisgmoot.org or write to info@cisgmoot.org for more information and registration.

Information on the Vienna competition can be found at www.cisg.law.pace.edu/vis.html.

Report by Felix Lautenschlager, Hamburg (President of the Moot Alumni Association, see www.maa.net, or contact through president@maa.net).

Internships available at LCIA and ICSID

Both ICSID and the LCIA have launched internship programmes, starting in 2012. ICSID's internships will last for a period of one year and be based in Washington (see http://icsid.worldbank.org/ICSID/FrontServlet?requestType=CasesRH&actionVal=OpenPage&PageType=AnnouncementsFrame&FromPage=Announcements&pageName=Announcement94).

The LCIA's internships will last for 6 months and be based in London (see http://www.lcia.org).

LAUNCH OF YOUNG ICCA

OFFICE-HOLDERS YOUNG ICCA

Marike Paulsson, Lise Bosman and Eduardo Damiao Goncalves are the Co-Chairs of Young ICCA for 2011 and 2012.