Opening up arbitration to the newcomer nations
Paris, 6 December 2000 - There is an age-old question asked about graduates eager to break into the business world: how do they gain the experience required to succeed when no one will take a chance on them without it.
In international arbitration, the analagous question is: how do prospective arbritators from countries new to arbitration gain the expertise necessary to be seen as equals to their established peers? How do they become arbitrators in important international arbitrations?
On Monday, 27 November arbitrators convened in Paris for an open forum where the 'new actors' could express the issues that face their countries in joining the traditional players. Members of both the developing and developed arbitration worlds described stumbling blocks and frustrations in gaining the requisite expertise, and then tried to come up with practical steps to bring them together into a single pool of quality international arbitrators.
The morning session of this colloquium highlighted several representatives from 'new actor' countries, who described the state of arbitration in their respective countries, specific issues and challenges they face and their expectations for the future.
The session was opened by the Secretary General of the International Chamber of Commerce, Maria Livanos Cattaui, and chaired by Serge Lazareff, the Chairman of the Institute and Pierre Lalive, Honorary Chairman of the Institute. Speakers included Carlos Eugenio Jorquiera, President, Inter-American Commercial Arbitration Commission, Chile, Zhu Jianlin , Secretary General, China International Economic & Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), China, Seyed-Jamal Seifi, Professor of Law and Attorney-at-Law, Iran, Seydou B¢, Chairman of the Common Court of Justice and Arbitration of the Organisation for the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa (OHBLA), C´te d'Ivoire, Mohamed El Mernissi, Professor of Law and Legal Counsellor, Morocco, and Florentino P. Feliciano, Chairman, Appellate Body, World Trade Organisation (WTO), Switzerland. Jan Paulsson, Freshfields, France, also served as a panellist during the colloquium.
In the afternoon, the discussion was opened up to all speakers and participants, who were encouraged to identify the recent trends in arbitration and put forward new solutions for these new actors to the question: how to gain the expertise of their 'traditional actor' peers.
Speakers and participants began brainstorming a wide variety of solutions, many suggesting the need for the developed world to offer its assistance. The consensus was that doors could thus be opened and the requisite education and experience be acquired by the developing world of arbitration. Participants agreed that international organizations may have to sponsor those new actors to attend t
raining seminars and other educational opportunities.
Some participants envisaged a system whereby arbitrators from 'new actor' countries would take smaller roles in large international arbitrations to gain exposure, for example as the secretary of an arbitral tribunal, serving as a stepping stone to larger roles. Other speakers encouraged businesses to expand their repertoires of arbitrators, by 'taking a chance' on an arbitrator not normally within the traditional circle for smaller disputes to create trust on both sides. Some found this suggestion particularly attractive if an 'arbitration appeal system' were put into place, where the award could be controlled, and the users of arbitration could be encouraged to take such a chance.
It was clear that, although there have been marked strides in levelling the playing field within the developed and developing worlds of arbitration, the keys to further progress are in empowerment and trust. The traditional actors must facilitate the education and experience of the new actors, and then trust the new actors to produce work of the same quality as their peers.
The meeting ended on a promising note, as speakers from China, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Chile, Iran, Switzerland, and the ICC Institute agreed to produce a joint paper summarizing trends, expectations and suggestions for further action.
Texts of some of the interventions are available upon request. To be emailed your free texts, please send your request to Click here to send a mail.
Institute of World Business Law