Oxford Symposium on Comparative International Commercial Arbitration
On 29 November 2016, the University of Oxford hosted the Oxford Symposium on Comparative International Commercial Arbitration. The event was co-organised by the Commercial Law Centre at Harris Manchester College and the Oxford University Brazilian Society.
The aim of the Symposium was to provide a forum for Brazilian and European specialists to discuss important issues related to international commercial arbitration. The keynote speaker was Sir Bernard Rix, who opened the Symposium with an address on the subject of confidentiality in arbitration.
The first panel dealt with Procedural Aspects of International Commercial Arbitration. On this subject, addresses were given by Jan Kleinheisterkamp (Determining Jurisdiction: finding the law applicable to the arbitration agreement), Fabiano Robalinho (Due Process and Arbitration) and Mariana França Gouveia (Ex parte interim measures in arbitration: stretching arbitration to its limits).
The second panel addressed the complex theme of Arbitration and Corruption. The issues arising in this area were debated by Stavros Brekoulakis (English public policy and corruption), Gilberto Giusti (The Arbitral Tribunal's Right and/or Obligation to Report on Suspicions of Corruption) and José-Miguel Júdice (Corruption and Arbitration: much ado about nothing?).
The third panel was entitled Discussing the Relationship between Arbitration and the Courts. On this subject, speeches were delivered by Pedro A Batista Martins (Overview of the Superior Court of Justice’s Decisions towards Arbitration in Brazil), Andreas von Goldbeck (Judicial control of pre-dispute arbitration clauses in the consumer context) and Felipe Vollbrecht Sperandio (Taking the most out of the national courts of the seat of your arbitration).
The fourth and last panel presented the New Trends for International Commercial Arbitration, with speeches delivered by Loukas Mistellis (Trends on international commercial arbitration following the 2015 Queen Mary's Survey), Carlos Alberto Carmona (The Recent Amendments to the Brazilian Arbitration Act: what can we expect?) and Hermes Marcelo Huck (Guerrilla Tactics in Arbitration).
André Luís Monteiro, Junior Academic Visitor at the Commercial Law Centre, gave the closing speech, thanking the audience, the panellists and the sponsors and extending an invitation to all to attend the 2017 Conference.