After decades of focus on harmonization, which for too many represents no more than Western legal dominance and a largely homogeneous arbitration practitioner community, this ground-breaking book explores the increasing attention being paid to the need for greater diversity in the international arbitration ecosystem. It examines diversity in all its forms, investigating how best to develop an international arbitral order that is not just tolerant of diversity, but that sustains and promotes diversity in concert with harmonized practices.

This book offers an in-depth study of the role of culture in modern day arbitral proceedings. It contains a detailed analysis of how cultural miscommunication affects the accuracy, efficiency, fairness, and legitimacy in both commercial and investment arbitration when the arbitrators and the parties, their counsel and witnesses come from diverse legal traditions and cultures. The book provides a comprehensive definition of culture, and methodically documents and examines the epistemology of determining facts in various legal traditions and how the mixing of traditions influences the outcome.

The cultural diversity characterizing international arbitration today is as much a source of enrichment as it is sometimes a source of practical difficulties affecting both the arbitration procedure and the application of substantive law. Consequently, it is becoming clearer that the critical project for international arbitration in the immediate future will be how to best answer the fundamental question of cultural pluralism. This book presents an informative and well-argued discussion on many aspects of international arbitration, clarifying the main procedural and substantive similarities and differences between different legal systems around the world, focusing not only on common and civil law traditions but also the role played by regional legal traditions including Islamic law and African perspectives. With contributions from fifty arbitrators, counsel, and academics representing every region of the world where international arbitration has secured a foothold, the volume consolidates and synthesizes a series of discussions sponsored by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators that took place in Dubai, Johannesburg, and Paris in 2017. The essays identify and address the cultural distinctions that affect the key ever-present factors which have forged the character of modern international arbitration, such as the following: the seat of the arbitration and the legal regime to which the arbitration is attached; due process, which has different and specific meanings in different national legal systems; international standards such as international public policy, illegality, arbitrability, and sanctions; the immunity of international arbitrators; form of presentation of evidence, production of documents, oral and written submissions, and expert evidence; the specific context of international investment arbitration; disputes in specific industries or legal areas (telecommunications, construction, mining, intellectual property); the role of national judges and the legal traditions they embrace throughout and after arbitration proceedings; how to incorporate more conciliatory cultural traditions, which are notably shared in many African and Asian countries; and training and opportunities for the next generation in international arbitration. The book is replete with tools and recommendations to ensure synergy and harmony between the different legal traditions that coexist in today’s arbitral proceedings. All users of arbitration, whether the arbitrators themselves, lawyers involved as counsel for parties, or judges applying arbitration law, will greatly appreciate this matchless elucidation of the different systems and alternative ways of presenting the divergent procedures and ways of conducting international arbitrations. The book’s immeasurable value to arbitration academics goes without saying.

Written by today’s leading arbitrators and counsel, this remarkably candid guide provides insight into the practitioner’s approach, conduct, style, and techniques that have proven most effective. While the facts and the law are fundamental, a successful outcome is the product of painstaking document review, witness interviews, legal research, strategizing and focusing the case, and developing compelling written and oral presentations. How to properly perform these tasks is the subject of this book. And where the first edition focused mainly on the cultural differences in advocacy performed in various regions of the world, this new edition expands on this theme by addressing each functional aspect of an international arbitration and the techniques that have been developed for good written and oral advocacy. Intended to assist both the novice in learning the techniques of advocacy, and the experienced advocate in improving his skills, this is an essential reference.

In ICCA's eighth Congress Series, international experts, professionals and practitioners in the field of arbitration examine the topic of the culture of international arbitration. ICCA's 1996 Seoul Conference, hosted by the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board, addressed four questions: is there a growing international arbitration culture? is there an expanding culture that favours combining arbitration, conciliation or other dispute resolution procedures? to what extent do arbitrators in international cases disregard the bag and baggage of national systems? and when and where do national courts reflect an international culture when deciding issues relating to international arbitration'.

The Rise of Transparency in International Arbitration is inspired by a joint research conducted in the last years by the Milan Chamber of Arbitration and the Law School of the University Carlo Cattaneo–LIUC, Castellanza, in Italy. The two bodies have shared a common concern in order to increase the use of international commercial arbitration and to develop a proper culture in the field: the need for enhancing transparency and especially for a wider dissemination of arbitral awards. The advantages of arbitration as the main alternative means of dispute resolution are well known and undisputed. Privacy and confidentiality are among them and at the same time among the prevailing features of any arbitral proceedings. However, sometimes users have the feeling to deal with a close and too slow-growing world. The need, if not the request, for a greater accountability of the arbitral world in the whole is more and more widespread. In this context the aim of this book is on the one hand to spur discussion and to shed new light on the traditional idea of confidentiality in international commercial arbitration (and in some other figures alike). Although this idea is sometimes founded upon sound reasons that cannot be ignored or totally set aside, it must be reconsidered by taking into account the rise of transparency. On the other hand, a specific proposal is made in order to step ahead from the current situation, with particular reference to the issue of the publication of the awards. In this respect, the main outcome is the Guidelines for the Anonymous Publication of Arbitral Awards, already adopted and experienced by the Milan Chamber. They are addressed to institutions, practitioners, scholars with the goal to favor the circulation of the awards and of the related decisions.

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 articles 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. Issues covered include the following: interim measures in support of arbitration; the hybrid arbitration-mediation mode of dispute resolution; what China’s investment treaties have to offer; Moser’s ‘Triple A’ approach to mediation; witness conferencing; influence of of rang (¿), or exercise of altruism; Chinese courts’ approach to international arbitration; evolution of investment protection between China and Europe; disclosure versus state secrecy laws in China; and the standard for disclosure in rules of evidence. Given the increasing prevalence of arbitrations seated in Asia and the number of new players engaged in arbitration in Asia, this book is certain to attract a wide range of arbitration practitioners, especially those engaged in arbitrations involving Asian parties. As a comparative study of Asian and Western arbitration theory and practice, it is peerless. Scholars of arbitration worldwide are sure to learn from the insights detailed here of practitioners with consummate experience in arbitrations involving cross-cultural parties. “This is an excellent and wide ranging publication that rightly pays tribute to Michael’s career as a multi-faceted doyen of international arbitration; he has had his base in Asia but at all times he has held a global and even minded view. Many of us – and the overall institution of international arbitration - owe so very much to him.” Matthew Gearing, QC, former Chair of HKIAC “This wide-ranging and insightful volume pays tribute to the distinguished career of Michael Moser, a true Renaissance figure who has traversed both East and West and helped so many others bridge the two.” Gary Born, WilmerHale