EJTN Training Session on Alternative Dispute Resolution in Florence, Italy

Report written by Dominique Hascher

On 23-24 October 2019 ICCA Governing Board Member and Judiciary Committee Chair Judge Dominique Hascher spoke at the European Judicial Training Network (EJTN) Training Session on Alternative Dispute Resolution held at the School for the Judiciary (SSM) in Scandicci.

Around 50 judges from European Union Member Countries attended the training. The programme, which was thus designed for European Union judges more widely, included a presentation on ADR in the context of European constitutional principles (such as the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights) and European Directive 2008/52 of 21 May 2008 on certain aspects of mediation in civil and commercial matters. The presentation also considered the impact of ADR on judicial proceedings in light of the case law of the European Court of Justice.

In the context of these different themes, Judge Hascher’s presentation on the New York Convention focused in particular on the relationship between the courts and arbitration. The New York Convention promotes legal principles which are essential to the rule of law, such as providing an effective right of access to arbitration in Article II by referring parties who have entered into a valid arbitration agreement to arbitration. Article III, which lays down a rule of non-discrimination in the treatment of domestic and foreign awards, grants procedural rights to aliens. This includes a right of access to the courts of the enforcement country. The right of access to justice is further strengthened by the principle of legal certainty developed by New York Convention which, by designing a pro-enforcement scheme for binding awards, obliges the courts to leave awards undisturbed, with the few exceptions listed in Article V.

It is the hope of ICCA’s Judiciary Committee that cooperation with the EJTN will be further developed in the future, either by participation in training seminars with a scope beyond arbitration or through webinars focusing exclusively on arbitration for judges.