IV Oxford Symposium on Comparative International Commercial Arbitration
Proceedings from the IV Oxford Symposium on Comparative International Commercial Arbitration have been made publicly available.
The Symposium took place at Wolfson College, University of Oxford, on 15th November 2019. The event was co-organised by the Commercial Law Centre at Harris Manchester College, the Oxford International Arbitration Society and the EDUCA Foundation. The event brought together professionals from the Americas, Europe and Asia to address critical issues in international arbitration from a comparative perspective.
The conference was opened with welcome addresses from Dr. Kristin van Zwieten (Commercial Law Centre at Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford) and conference organiser André Luís Monteiro (Mannheimer, Perez e Lyra Advogados). Four panels comprised of exceptional speakers followed.
The first panel dealt with decision-making processes in international arbitration. The panel was chaired by Sir Jack Beatson (Essex Court Chambers). The other panel members were Donald Donovan (Debevoise & Plimpton), Filipa Cansado Carvalho (PLMJ), Juliet Blanch (Arbitration Chambers) and Ricardo Aprigliano (Aprigliano Advogados).
The second panel followed with a thorough debate over China’s new commercial approach and its impact on international arbitration, i.e., the ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative. The speakers were Chong Yee Leong (Allen & Glendhill), Guilherme Rizzo Amaral (Souto Correa), Melody Wang (Fangda Partners) and Weixia Gu (University of Hong Kong), mediated by Jonathan Lim (WilmerHale).
The third panel considered a uniform interpretation of the Kompetenz-Kompetenz rule across national courts internationally. The panel, composed of Chris Parker (Herbert Smith Freehills), Danielle Morris (WilmerHale), Dario Moura Vicente (University of Lisbon) and Eleonora Coelho (CAM-CCBC), was led by André Abbud (BMA).
The last panel of the day led the conference to a complex topic in international arbitration. Flavia Mange (Mange & Gabbay Sociedade de Advogados) chaired the panel, made up of Andreas Hacke (zhmp, University of Oxford), David Orta (Quinn Emanuel), Pedro Barroso (Petrobras) and Sophie Lamb QC (Latham & Watkins), which discussed class arbitrations in investor-company disputes.
Closing the event, Alan Redfern (One Essex Court) was interviewed by Renato Grion (Pinheiro Neto Advogados). The 45-minute talk addressed the personal life of Mr. Redfern as well as current technical issues in international arbitration.
The event was sponsored by (i) Center for Arbitration and Mediation (CAM-CCBC); (ii) Pinheiro Neto Advogados; (iii) Lex Finance; (iv) Mannheimer, Perez e Lyra Advogados; (v) Debevoise & Plimpton LLP; (vi) WilmerHale LLP; (vii) Justen, Pereira, Oliveira & Talamini Advogados; (viii) PLMJ – Sociedade de Advogados; and (ix) Cesar Asfor Rocha Advogados.
The event also had the institutional support of (i) ICC; (ii) Kluwer, (iii) CIArb; (iv) CBAr; (v) CEA; (vi) CIESP/FIESP; (vii) TDM+OGEMID; (viii) AMCHAM; (ix) CAMARB; and (x) IBDP.