Call for Papers: International Business Dispute Resolution by ADR in Asia

Transnational Dispute Management has issued a call for papers for a TDM special issue on "International Business Dispute Resolution by ADR in Asia." Here's the call:

We are pleased to announce a forthcoming TDM special issue on “International Business Dispute Resolution by ADR in Asia.” This special issue will analyze new trends, developments, and challenges in the use of ADR to resolve business disputes in Asia. It will consider arbitration, mediation, conciliation and other forms of ADR.

This special issue will be edited by Professor A.F.M. Maniruzzaman (University of Portsmouth) and Gary Born (Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP).

Asia has experienced substantial growth in the use of ADR – and international arbitration in particular – to resolve international business disputes in recent years. The ascendance of ADR in Asia is in part a product of the growth of Asian countries’ economies and their increased participation in global commerce. The rise of China, India, and other Asian states as major investment destinations and the expansion of Asian multinational corporations overseas have increased business opportunities, and thus the numbers of business disputes, in the region.

The high demand for ADR services, in turn, has driven many Asian governments to cultivate a pro-arbitration environment through new arbitration legislation and other mechanisms, and has led to the proliferation of international arbitral centres throughout Asia (including in Singapore, Hong Kong and elsewhere). Likewise, many global law firms have also responded to this increased demand by aggressively entering the Asian market and deploying significant resources to the region.

This TDM special issue will provide international practitioners and academics with an overview of the new developments in the ADR field unfolding across the region, and prepare them for the Asian-specific challenges they are likely to encounter in their ADR practices.

Possible topics for submission to the special issue might include:

• Whether the proliferation of arbitral institutions across Asia, and the increase in the case loads of these institutions, reflects growing trends in the Asian business community;
• The background to, and likely effects of, newly proposed or enacted arbitration legislation in major international arbitration destinations such as Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia, as well as in emerging international arbitration destinations such as India, Pakistan, and Vietnam;
• The practical significance of the 2010 revisions to the UNCITRAL Rules and the SIAC Rules, and of the newly published LCIA India Rules;
• The judicial and legal sector reforms necessary to improve the quality and independence of the judiciary, and foster a pro-arbitration culture, in emerging Asian states;
• The challenges of enforcing international arbitration awards and implementing the New York Convention and the ICSID Convention in developing Asian countries;
• Attitudes in Asia toward the use of treaty arbitration;
• Prospect of mediation of investment disputes in Asia;
• Obstacles for foreign lawyers to entering the Asian legal market and how they can be overcome;
• Empirical study of international business disputes by ADR in Asia;
• The impact of Asian legal culture on business dispute resolution in Asia (e.g., the tendency toward equity-based compromise decisions of Asian arbitrators) and the effect of cultural norms on the practice of various forms of ADR in Asia (e.g., the practice of combining mediation and arbitration in the same proceeding); and
• Influence of Asian dispute resolution culture / tradition beyond Asia.

We invite all those with an interest in the subject to contribute articles or notes on one of the above topics or any other relevant issue. This special issue will be edited by:

Gary Born

Chair, International Arbitration

Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP

Professor A F M Maniruzzaman

Chair in International and Business Law

School of Law, University of Portsmouth, U.K.

Publication is expected in October / November 2011. Proposals for papers should be submitted to the editors by the end of May 2011.

Please address all questions and proposals to the editors, contact details here, please CC info@www.transnational-dispute-management.com when you submit material.