Young ICCA-University of Miami Scholarship announced

Young ICCA and the University of Miami School of Law today announced a competition for a full-tuition scholarship to be awarded to a member of Young ICCA to attend the University of Miami's one-year postgraduate LLM program in international arbitration. More...

ICCA's 2014 Congress to take place in Miami

ICCA's 22nd Congress will be held in Miami in 2014. This announcement was made shortly after a presentation to the ICCA Council meeting  in Geneva in May 2011. Further details are available at the Miami event website (http://www.miamiicca2014.com).

ICCA's Guide to the Interpretation of the New York Convention launched in Geneva

The 50th anniversary conference of ICCA was the occasion for  presenting 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, which benefits from the extensive practical and academic experience of its authors (prominent arbitrators and ICCA members) will also be of interest to students, teachers and practitioners as an introduction to the Convention.

Se details on how to download a PDF of the Guide from this website or order a hard copy by following the link on this site.

Young ICCA Mentoring Programme Launched

March 2011 saw the launch of Young ICCA's new Mentoring Programme -- with the participation of ICCA Members acting as Mentors. Around 60 young practitioners from across the globe will benefit from the mentoring of ICCA Members and from Young ICCA “buddies” sharing their experiences, for a period of 2 years. Participants will exchange information on arbitration know-how, arbitration practice and career advice.

See www.youngicca.org for more details.

Registration for ICCA's 50th Anniversary Conference (May 2011) now open

Early bird registration for ICCA's 50th Anniversary celebrations in Geneva is now open. The programme commences with a conference hosted by Young ICCA on 19 May 2011, followed by a commemoration dinner in the evening of 19 May at which ICCA Member V.V. Veeder will give a keynote address entitled "Memories from ICCA's first 50 Years".

On 20 May, attention turns to the future with a conference entitled "Arbitration and ICCA: the Next 50 Years". The conference will start with two sessions about the present state of commercial and investment arbitration, reviewing whether commercial arbitration is now established as a transnational system of justice and whether investment arbitration has become a governance tool for global economic relations. Building upon these assessments, a third session will then address the changes that the future will bring and their implications for the practice of arbitration, asking questions such as: Will the players change? Will the proceedings change? Will practice in different arbitration places and fora evolve towards convergence or differentiation? Will the same changes apply to commercial and investment arbitration? How should ICCA address the changes?

For further details and registration, see www.icca50.org.

ICCA to Publish Judges' Guide to New York Convention

ICCA will launch its new Guide to the interpretation of the New York Convention in May 2011 -- to coincide with ICCA's 50th Anniversary celebrations in Geneva. The Guide is part of a programme to assist uniform interpretation and application of the New York Convention worldwide, and takes the form of a practical guide to be used by judges.

ICCA Honorary President, Professor Pieter Sanders, will act as General Editor of the Guide, which has been penned by a group of experts including ICCA Members Neil Kaplan, Guido Tawil and Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler, with Kim Rooney and Marike Paulsson and with the assistance of Judy Freedberg and Silvia Borelli.

Deadline Applications for Young ICCA Mentoring Programme Extended

The deadline for applications to participate in the Young ICCA Mentoring Programme has been extended until 30 November 2010. The Programme will commence as planned on 1 January 2011.  Students and young practitioners are encouraged to sign up for this programme as Members -- Young ICCA also seeks mid-level professionals to act as Advisory Members ("Buddies") in the Programme. See Young ICCA subpage above.

ICCA to co-host December 2010 conference in Mauritius

December 2010 will mark the launch of a new platform for arbitration created by the Government of Mauritius – with a conference held under the auspices of ICCA, UNCITRAL, the PCA, ICSID, the LCIA and the ICC on 13-14 December. The conference will be opened by the Prime Minister of Mauritius and invitees include the Attorney-Generals and Chief Justices of all Southern African Development Council and COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) countries and of India. The conference also celebrates the recent opening by the Permanent Court of Arbitration of a permanent branch in Mauritius pursuant to a Host Country Agreement concluded between Mauritius and the PCA.

Conference speakers include the heads of all six co-hosts (Renaud Sorieul of UNCITRAL, Christiaan Kroner of the PCA, Meg Kinnear of ICSID, Adrian Winstanley of the LCIA, John Beechey of the ICC and Jan Paulsson of ICCA).

 See http://www.miac2010.mu for more details.

FILM FOOTAGE RIO CONGRESS NOW AVAILABLE

For the first time ever, film footage of the presentations from an ICCA Congress or Conference is now available for viewing by those who wish to follow the proceedings "live". The proceedings of the ICCA Rio Congress 2010 are now available on this website, without charge. Proceedings can be viewed by speaker and per session, see the Conferences and Congresses page of this site, or use the link on this page.

Young ICCA Membership and Mentoring Programme now open

Young ICCA's Membership and Mentoring Programme is now open for applications. The Mentoring Programme for 2011-2012 will commence on 1 January 2011. Through this programme, Young ICCA Members will be linked to a Young ICCA Advisory Member ("Buddy") and to a Mentor (a participating ICCA Council Member or ICCA Advisory Member) for a period of two years, and will be eligible for exchange of arbitration know-how and career advice.

Applications for Membership and for Advisory Membership (”Buddies”) are due by 1 November 2010.

Keynote Address, ICCA Congress Rio, 26 May 2010

Is there “a current, compelling need for the development of a Code of Ethics in International Arbitration and for the adaptation of tribunals and institutions to the adoption of such a Code”? Speaking in a Keynote Address at the ICCA Congress, Doak Bishop addressed the topic of "Ethics in International Arbitration", arguing that existing codes of conduct for lawyers are simply not up to the task. Also on behalf of co-author Margrete Stevens, he presented their draft “Code of Ethics for Lawyers Practicing Before International Arbitral Tribunals” as a starting point to develop a uniform Code of Ethics that could enjoy widespread support.

 A paper by Doak Bishop and Margrete Stevens based on the Keynote Address will be published by Wolters Kluwer in ICCA Congress Series no. 15 (forthcoming).

Launch of Young ICCA -- video coverage of YAP meeting now available

Rio 2010 saw the launch of Young ICCA -- a grouping aimed at young arbitrationers world-wide, with the ambition to draw students and young practitioners from all corners of the globe into the practice of international arbitration.  During the annual meeting of YAP (Young Arbitration Practitioners), Young ICCA office-holder Marike Paulsson explained the goals of the new organisation, emphasising the need to open the practice of arbitration to developing nations and regions. Young ICCA will hold its first annual meeting on 19 May 2011 in Geneva.

Also during the YAP meeting (jointly hosted with the CBAr) and appropriately titled "Arbitration in Changing Times", two lively panel discussions addressed issues of interest to young practitioners. "The Status and Duties of Arbitrators -- where do we stand?" was moderated by V.V. Veeder and Katherine González Arrocha and followed by a panel on "Arbitration and Sovereign Entities -- a selection of current issues", moderated by Guillermo Aguilar Alvarez and Valeria Galindez.

Complete film footage of both panel discussions can now be viewed free of charge on the Young ICCA site at www.youngicca.org.

ICCA ELECTS NEW VICE PRESIDENTS AND SECRETARY GENERAL

At its annual meeting in Rio de Janeiro, the ICCA Council elected three new Vice Presidents and a new Secretary General.  The new Vice Presidents are Guillermo Agular-Alvarez, Teresa Cheng and Alexander Komarov. They replace Donald Donovan, Michael Hwang and Ivan Szasz. The new Secretary General is Kevin Kim, who succeeds Antonio Parra.

Profiles of the incoming and outgoing Vice Presidents and Secretaries General are posted on the Officers and Members page of this site.

Dr. Ottoarndt Glossner 1923-2010

To mark the death of ICCA Advisory Member Dr. Ottoarndt Glossner on 27 April 2010, ICCA honours his life with this tribute by former colleague and ICCA Member Professor Karl-Heinz Böckstiegel:

"With the death of  Dr.Dr. Ottoarndt Glossner on 27 April 2010, a personality has left the stage who has had an impact on arbitration in Germany and beyond for decades.

Born on 23 December 1923, he had an exceptional education for his time, which culminated in his degrees of Dr.jur. in Germany and Docteur en Droit at the University of  Paris, and gave him excellent language capabilities.

His professional career led him first to the position of General Counsel of AEG, at the time one of the largest companies in Germany. During that period he was also chairman of the Legal Committee of the German Federation of Industries. Thereafter, he worked as an attorney and notary in his own law firm.

Since his participation, as a member of the German delegation, in the UN conference in 1958 which resulted in the New York Convention, arbitration became a focus of his work. He was a member from the beginning of what is today ICCA, and remained an Advisory Member. In 1973 he was a founding member of the German Institute of Arbitration (DIS) and became its first Chairman. He remained in this function until, after German reunification,  the DIS was re-founded as the German Institution of Arbitration (DIS) and remained  its Honorary Chairman. For many years he was also the Chairman of the ICC Arbitration Commission. He was actively involved in the commission at the Ministry of Justice which prepared Germany’s acceptance of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Arbitration which came into force in 1998. In the IBA he was Chairman of Committee D. During all these functions he was active as an arbitrator in many cases and published widely.

In 1993, friends from Germany and abroad offered him a Liber Amicorum. In France, he was honored by the appointment as Chevalier de La Legion d’Honeur and in Germany he received the Großes Bundesverdienstkreuz.

Those who remember him will agree that he was an old-style gentleman with great diplomatic skills, but also great personal warmth. And they will also agree that he received  extraordinary support from his wife, Inge, during all these years. To her we send, at this difficult time, our sympathy and  best  wishes for the future."

ICCA ELECTS NEW PRESIDENT

Prof. Jan Paulsson has been elected by the ICCA Council to serve as the next ICCA President.  He replaces Dr. Gerold Herrmann, who has served as President of ICCA since 2002 and was previously attached to UNCITRAL and the LCIA. (Prof. Paulsson's profile can be consulted on the Officers and Members page of this site.)

ICCA's Congress Series no. 14

The published version of papers delivered at ICCA's 2008 Congress held in Dublin -- ICCA's Congress Series no. 14 -- is now available.  Copies can be obtained through Kluwer Law International, and content is available on-line to KluwerArbitration subscribers. The Tables of Contents of all volumes in the ICCA Congress Series are published on this site on our Publications page.

Tadeusz Szurski 1923-2010

ICCA marks with great regret the loss of Advisory Member, Advocate Dr. Habil. Tadeusz Szurski, who died after a long illness on 16 February 2010 at the age of eighty-six. Tadeusz Szurski was regarded as a founding father of modern Polish arbitration. In a career that spanned several decades as a scholar and arbitrator, he was a co-founder and Vice-President of the Polish Arbitration Association and a founder and long-time President of the Court of Arbitration of the Polish Chamber of Commerce. He was also a member of the Scientific Council of the Institute of International Law at Warsaw University and an Honorary President of the Court of Arbitration at the Polish Confederation of Private Employers.

As eloquently noted by the Polish Arbitration Association in a February 2010 tribute, he will be remembered as a "man of great charm, courage and integrity."

ICCA's Yearbook Commercial Arbitration for 2009

ICCA's Yearbook Commercial Arbitration for 2009 recently became available.  Copies can be obtained through Kluwer Law International, and content of the Yearbook for 2009 will shortly be available on-line to KluwerArbitration subscribers. Consolidated lists of all court decisions and arbitral awards published in the Yearbook since its inception are published on this site on our Publications page, which also contains a consolidated list of New York Convention cases indexed per subject matter according to Prof. Albert Jan van den Berg's Commentary.

Robert Briner 1930-2009

ICCA mourns the loss of Advisory Member, Robert Briner, who died on 3 December 2009 at the age of seventy-nine. 

In the course of a career that began in the tax and corporate practice of the Swiss firm Lenz and Staehelin, and then spanned several decades in the international arbitration world, he acted as arbitrator and counsel in numerous arbitrations. He held positions at the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal, The Hague (acting as President of the Tribunal from 1989 to 1991), and as Chairman of the ICC International Court of Arbitration between 1997 and 2006. He was also appointed to the United Nations Compensation Commission and to the Claims Resolution Tribunal for Dormant Accounts in Switzerland, and was a member of the International Bar Association, the International Council of Arbitration for Sport and the Executive Board of the Swiss Arbitration Association.

Robert Briner will be remembered for his intellectual vigour, integrity, fairness and collegiality. ICCA’s sympathies go out to his wife, children and grandchildren.

Links for Young Practitioners Available

ICCA looks to the future: the ICCA website continues to feature links for young arbitration practitioners, see our Related Links page.