The ICC Institute of World Business Law is reviewing entries for its inaugural Institute Prize in academic research in international commercial law and arbitration.

By the submission deadline on 1 July, the Institute received 11 entries in English and French from six countries spanning four continents. Candidates covered a wide range of topics on international business law, such as the Vienna Convention, international contract negotiation, international economic disputes at the WTO, and specific global issues in arbitration.

“We are happy to see so many submissions for the first year of the competition,” said Bengt Broms, Professor Emeritus of International and Constitutional Law at the University of Helsinki.

For more than 25 years, the Institute has had the dual mission of forging closer ties between law practitioners and academia and contributing to the progress and understanding of international commercial law around the world.

“The Institute felt there was a need for the prize to increase the number of theses on international commercial law and international commercial arbitration,” Mr. Broms also said, who is a member of the competition jury.

The Institute is awarding €10 000 to the winning entry determined by a jury that demonstrates an outstanding new contribution in international commercial law and excellent legal writing.

Demonstrating the interest and investment law practitioners have in the advancement of research on international commercial law, five law firms have graciously sponsored the first Institute Law Prize: Bonelli Erede Pappalardo (Italy), Bredin Prat (France), Hengeler Mueller (Germany), Slaughter & Mary (UK) and Uria Menendez (Spain),

The recipient of the prize will be announced on 26 November 2007, at ICC headquarters in Paris during the annual meeting of the Institute.

Further information can be found at  http://www.instituteprize.org