Conference: Forum on Investor-State Mediation

On December 8-9, 2020, the Investment Treaty Forum of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law in cooperation with the ISDS Mediation Working Group will host a Forum on Investor-State Mediation. The program is here.

Kaplan, Pryles, & Bao: International Arbitration: When East Meets West: Liber Amicorum Michael Moser

Neil Kaplan, Michael Pryles, & Chiann Bao have published International Arbitration: When East Meets West: Liber Amicorum Michael Moser (Wolters Kluwer 2020). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

International Arbitration: When East Meets West provides an extensive review and comparison of mediation and other forms of dispute resolution practiced in Asia and the West. As Asia, China in particular, gains economic momentum and increasingly attracts global attention, disputes between Asian and Western parties will inevitably increase. This book, the first to address issues arising from these types of disputes in depth, collects incisive articles by both well-known Asian arbitrators and non-Asian practitioners with extensive experience dealing with arbitrations involving Asian parties, all under the aegis of Michael Moser, a Western-trained lawyer who had the foresight to build a China-focused dispute resolution practice at a time when it was not fashionable to do so. The chapters reflect Moser’s exemplary career as an independent arbitrator who has navigated between Asian and Western legal cultures seamlessly for decades. The upshot is an authoritative investigation of the differences and similarities of international arbitration between two contrasting cultures – both from a legal and social perspective – as well as a consideration of how each culture has influenced international arbitration practice overall.

Conference: Fordham's Fifteenth Annual Conference on International Arbitration and Mediation

On November 20, 2020, Fordham University School of Law will host its Fifteen Annual Conference on International Arbitration and Mediation. The theme is: "Key Issues in International Commercial and Treaty Arbitration."

Titi & Fach Gómez: Mediation in International Commercial and Investment Disputes

Catharine Titi (Centre national de la recherche scientifique) & Katia Fach Gómez (Univ. of Zaragoza - Law) have published Mediation in International Commercial and Investment Disputes (Oxford Univ. Press 2019). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

Until now, the resolution of international commercial and investment disputes has been dominated almost exclusively by international arbitration. But that is changing. Whilst they may be complementary mechanisms, international mediation and conciliation are now coming to the fore. Mediation rules that were in disuse gather momentum, and dispute settlement centres are introducing new mediation rules. The European Union is encouraging international mediation in both the commercial and investment spheres. The 2019 Singapore Mediation Convention of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) is aiming to ensure enforcement of international commercial settlement agreements resulting from mediation. The first investor-State disputes are mediated under the International Bar Association (IBA) rules. The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)'s conciliation mechanism is resorted to more often than in the past. The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has recently administered its first mediation case based on a bilateral investment treaty, and a new training market on mediation is flourishing.

Reed: Ultima Thule: Prospects for International Commercial Mediation

Lucy Reed (National Univ. of Singapore - Law) has posted Ultima Thule: Prospects for International Commercial Mediation. Here's the abstract:

In this paper, I will first consider the reasons for the low rates of successful international commercial mediations, and then begin to explore what it might take to encourage the international legal and business communities to embrace mediation for international commercial disputes. Lastly, I will introduce and examine the new United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation (The Singapore Convention on Mediation), in particular its role in promoting the use of international commercial mediation globally. This paper was presented as the keynote address at the inaugural Schiefelbein Global Dispute Resolution Conference on 18 January 2019, at the Sandra Day O’Connor School of Law of Arizona State University.

Strong: Use and Perception of International Commercial Mediation and Conciliation

S.I. Strong (Univ. of Missouri - Law) has posted Use and Perception of International Commercial Mediation and Conciliation: A Preliminary Report on Issues Relating to the Proposed UNCITRAL Convention on International Commercial Mediation and Conciliation. Here's the abstract:

This report provides preliminary findings from the first-ever large-scale international survey regarding the use and perception of international commercial mediation and conciliation in the international legal and business communities. This information was gathered to assist the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and UNCITRAL Working Group II (Arbitration and Conciliation) as they consider a proposal from the Government of the United States regarding a possible convention in this area of law. The U.S. proposal will be considered in depth at the Working Group II meeting in February 2015, with a report from the Working Group due to the Commission in September 2015.

The project was constructed with two goals in mind. First, the study attempted to discover and describe current behaviors and attitudes relating to international commercial mediation and conciliation so as to set a benchmark for further analysis in this field. Second, the research attempted to determine whether the legal and business communities thought an international instrument in this area of law would be useful and if so, what shape they believed that document should take.

The study collected detailed data on 34 different questions from 221 respondents from all over the world. Survey participants included private practitioners, neutrals, in-house counsel, government lawyers, academics and judges with expertise in both domestic and international proceedings. The results described in this preliminary report will eventually be published in an article that will not only present an expanded final analysis of the underlying data but will also feature several normative proposals regarding the shape of any future international action in this area of law. However, this preliminary report is being offered early so as to provide participants in the UNCITRAL discussion with empirical data concerning the current state of international commercial mediation and conciliation as well as the international business and legal communities' views about the future of the procedure.