News Archive

March.2008

Mar.06.2008

The new edition of Global Arbitration Review sees the return of the annual institution 'year in a nutshell' by Loukas Mistelis, director of the School of International Arbitration at Queen Mary, University of London.

Mistelis writes: "The inaugural 'year in a nutshell piece' published last year in Global Arbitration Review found that highlighting major events of the year just past was a useful exercise, but it risked isolating advances in the field of international arbitration from their context. In fact, in its small way, the exercise may have helped identify the tipping points that shape longer trends."

Mistelis provides a round-up of last year's conferences, studies and publications, and legislation. He says: "The increased interest in arbitration conferences, the number of publications and the steady, sober rise in the number of arbitration cases are cause for optimism."

The review also includes a list of leading decisions and awards in commercial and investment arbitration, including International Thunderbird Gaming Corp v United Mexican States and CMS Gas Transmission Company v The Argentine Republic.

Global Arbitration Review (www.globalarbitrationreview.com)

Publication here

More on Loukas Mistelis here

February.2008

Feb.29-Mar.01.2008

6th Petersberger Schiedstage

Adobe PDDF document

Feb.26.2008

Japan Arbitrators Association – Osaka

Lecture by Professor Mistelis on Function and Selection of Seat in International Arbitration

Feb.22.2008

Japan Commercial Arbitration Association – Tokyo

Seminar by Professor Mistelis on Enforcement of International Arbitration Awards

Feb.07-08.2008

CCLS Conference entitled:
"Commercial Law : Where from and Where to?"

Convergences, Harmonisation and Transplant
Professor Hugh Beale, (QC FBA University of Warwick) Professor Herbert Kronke, (Secretary General UNIDROIT, Italy), Lord Justice Rix, (Royal Court of Justice), Professor Janet Dine (QM)

Cross Boarder Issues and Overlapping Jurisdictions
Lee Buchheit (Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, US), Sean Hagan (General Counsel, Director of the Legal Department, International Monetary Fund), Professor Alan Rau, (University of Texas, US), Professor Rosa Lastra (QM)

The New Decision-Makers
Lord Justice Lawrence Collins, (Royal Courts of Justice) Professor Geoffrey Miller, (University School of Law, US) Professor Dr Ingeborg Schwenzer, (University of Basel, Switzerland), Professor Loukas Mistelis (QM)

The Shape of Soft Law
Professor George Bermann (Columbia Law School, US), Professor Ross Cranston (QC, High Court Judge) , Professor Henry Gabriel, (Loyola University, US) Professor Julian Lew QC, (20 Essex Chambers, UK and Visiting Professor and Head of the School of International Arbitration, QM) Professor Deliang Liu (University of Post and Telecommunication Law, China)

Commerce, Creativity, Culture and Development
Professor Hugh Hansen, (Fordham University, US) Lord Justice Robin Jacob (Royal Courts of Justice), Thomas Smedinghoff (Wildman Harrold, US), Duncan Matthews (QM)

Courts and Free Markets
William Blair QC, (3 VERULAM BUILDINGS, UK) Professor Marise Cremona (European University Institute, Italy) Professor Beth Farmer (Penn State Dickinson School of Law), Professor Benjamin Geva, (Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Canada) Dr.Julia Hornle (QM), Professor Jan Kleineman, (Stockholm University, Sweden) Professor Takis Tridimas (QM)

Documents listing here

December.2007

Dec.2007

Seminar organized jointly with the Cairo Regional Center for International Commercial Arbitration: Advocacy in International Arbitration

Dec.11.2007

School of Arbitration leading the field in Research - "Corporate Attitudes and Practices: Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Award" - Professor Loukas Mistelis, and PricewaterhouseCoopers "Corporate Attitudes and Practices: Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Awards" will be published in May.

Mistelis, director of the School of International Arbitration at Queen Mary, University of London is conducting the research with the school's PricewaterhouseCooper research fellow Crina Baltag. Loukas Mistelis says: "There is substantial anecdotal evidence regarding the difficulty of enforcing awards in jurisdictions such as China and Russia, but up to now there has been no corroborative data. Through this survey we hope to establish whether there is empirical evidence to support the myth." The survey will also examine whether arbitral awards have any value as leverage in business negotiations, in securing loans, or as a commodity.

School of Arbitration and PricewaterhouseCoopers Survey here

more on Professor Loukas Mistelis here

more on Ms Crina Baltag here

Dec.11.2007

"Pervasive Problems in International Arbitration" by Loukas Mistelis and Julian D.M.Lew , Kluwer Law International 2006 reviewed in the November 2007 issue of Book Review.

Book review here

more on Professor Loukas Mistelis here

more on Julian D.M.Lew here

November.2007

Nov.29.2007

22nd annual lecture of the School of International Arbitration sponsored by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer - was given by Professor James Crawford SC FBA (Cambridge)
Topic: "Treaty and Contract in Investment Arbitration"

Nov.21.2007

School of Arbitration bolsters staff and announces new course

Following on from the appointment of Stavros Brekoulakis (Lecturer in International Dispute Resolution) and Crina Baltag (PwC Research Fellow in International Arbitration) Professor John Uff QC, of Keating Chambers, will coordinate the international construction contracts and arbitration course within the LLM in Comparative and International Dispute Resolution and Postgraduate Distance Learning Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration. From September 2008, the School of International Arbitration will be offering a London based Postgraduate Diploma in International Mediation, in addition to the Distance Learning Programme.

more on Mr Stavros Brekoulakis here

more on Ms Crina Baltag here

Nov.16-18.2007

International Commercial Arbitration Award Writing Examinations

Nov.07.2007

Inaugural Lecture of Professor Loukas Mistelis on "International Arbitrator and the Law” "The Global Arbitration Review". click here for article published in the Global Arbitration Review regarding inaugural lecture

Inaugural
Inaugural After

October.2007

October.2007

CISG and Arbitration – Meeting of the CISG Advisory Council and Conference in Wuhan China

September.2007

Sept.28-29.2007

International Conference sponsored by the European Union:
22nd annual lecture of the School of International Arbitration sponsored by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer - was given by Professor James Crawford SC FBA (Cambridge)

Topic: "Preventing and Managing International Commercial Disputes – Towards a Euro-Med ADR Infrastructure"

[ URL ]

August.2007

Aug.2007

Professor Loukas Mistelis, in conjunction with PriceWaterhouseCoopers, gave a talk on: "Corporate attitudes towards International Arbitration" at the Universidad Gabriela Mistral, Faculty of Law, Chile

July.2007

Jul.05.2007

Afternoon seminar on Intellectual Property Disputes and Arbitration, organised jointly by the School of International Arbitration and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

Jul.01.2007

Queen Mary University of London School of Law through its School of International Arbitration is one of only four Universities invited to join an association which as of 1 July 2007 will be entrusted with the organisation of Willem C Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot (www.cisg.law.pace.edu/vis.html). This is the largest international moot on international commercial law gathering every year more than 200 universities from more than 50 countries. A team from CCLS won the moot in 2006. Queen Mary was represented in the inaugural meeting of the association by Professor Loukas Mistelis.

June.2007

Jun.08.2007

Joint Workshop organised by Columbia Law School and the School of International Arbitration
Topic: Mandatory Rules in International Arbitration
Held at Columbia Law School
To be published in the American Review of International Arbitration

May.2007

May.10-11.2007

Joint Conference of School of International Arbitration and the Stockholm Centre for Commercial Law Arbitration Section celebrated the 100th anniversary of Stockholm University Law Faculty.
Topic: Arbitrators: Private Judges, Service Providers or Both?

Further information available at: [ URL ]

April.2006

Apr.13.2006

A team of students from Queen Mary wins the 13 th Willem C Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot. The team was coached by SIA staff, Angie Raymond and Stavros Brekoulakis.

A report from the Global Arbitration Review :

"Queen Mary wins arbitration moot"

21 April 2006

A top London law school has won the thirteenth Willem C Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot.

At an awards ceremony in Vienna on 13 April the School of International Arbitration at Queen Mary, University of London walked away with the best team award in orals, as well as two other oral awards and two for best written memoranda.
It is the first time an English university has won the competition, which has traditionally been dominated by Germans. More than 150 law schools from almost 50 countries competed in this year's moot - a far cry from the first competition in 1993, which attracted just 11 law schools from only nine countries. About 450 arbitrators participated in this year's event.
The winning team comprised five members, all from different countries: Angelica Andre (Germany/France), Joseph Altendorff ( England ), Kris Schwarzrock ( US ), Lise Svendsen ( Denmark ), and Maarten Draye ( Belgium ).
Coached by academics Angie Raymond and Stavros Brekoulakis, …

The competition began last October when teams were presented with a mock problem. They then had to draft a claimant brief in response to submissions in the problem, as well as a response to another team's claimant brief.

May.2006

May.2006

A study by Queen Mary, University of London into attitudes and practices surrounding international arbitration found that the majority of corporations prefer arbitration to resolve their cross border disputes than litigation through the national courts.

Queen Mary’s School of International Arbitration carried out the major empirical survey over a sixth month period in 2005 on behalf of PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Researchers used a combination of interviews and online questionnaires to investigate corporate attitudes and choices towards dispute resolution among 150 in-house lawyers based at major corporations around the world. This is the largest international study into arbitration ever to be carried out.

The study tested twelve perceptions around international arbitration, such as how it compares to other methods of dispute resolution and what its advantages and disadvantages are. 73 per cent of lawyers chose arbitration over litigation as the preferred method for solving disputes. Arbitration is viewed as the preferred method because it uses flexible procedures (parties are free to determine the procedures they would like followed), an arbitration award is more easily enforced than other foreign judgements, and proceedings are private and may be confidential. Litigation is often avoided as a means of resolving cross-border disputes due to risks associated with litigating under foreign law, threat of lack of independent judiciary, possibility of corruption, and because it is more expensive and time-consuming than arbitration.

Disputes are an inevitable occurrence in many international commercial transactions and a consequence of increased globalisation and market liberalisation. Different commercial and legal expectations, cultural approaches, political ramifications and geographic situations are sources of disagreement and dispute between contracting parties. Arbitration is these days a well-established mechanism for the settlement of commercial disputes.

Lead author of the study, Professor Loukas Mistelis said: “We embarked on this study as there is little reliable tangible data relating to international arbitration. This study is both ground-breaking and standard-setting as it introduces empirical methods in the study of international arbitration. It is ground-breaking because it is by far the largest independent statistical survey yet on international arbitration and provides insights into this so far esoteric area of law. It is standard-setting because an empirical baseline has now been set and more empirical studies will follow.

“The study confirms the objectives of Queen Mary, University of London in conducting pioneer research in all disciplines and working together with the business community, in this case PriceWaterhouseCoopers and the major international corporations which participated in the survey.”

A version of the report is available at www.pwc.com/arbitrationstudy, and a full academic report is in Volume 15 of the American Review of International Arbitration.

2005

CCLS celebrated its 25th anniversary with a series of 16 lectures on commercial law in honour of its founder and first director, Professor Sir Roy Goode – book published.

International Workshop on Research and Teaching of International Arbitration (SIA, CCLS) – published in Arbitration International 2006

International Conference on Arbitrability (SIA and its alumni, CCLS) at the University of Athens – To be published

20th Anniversary Conference of the School of International Arbitration(SIA) on Contemporary Problems in International Arbitration (CCLS) – book published