Session on 21st March 2025

Launching a new biweekly series of discussions on international arbitration is set to launch on Platforum9, offering practitioners, academics, and arbitration enthusiasts an opportunity to explore the most pressing developments in the field. In a recent introductory session, Professor Velimir Živković from the University of Warwick and Matej Pustay, partner at Squire Patton Boggs in Prague and Bratislava, unveiled their vision for this specialist forum.

The Forum will bring together experts to discuss topical issues in arbitration, with five initial sessions already planned that promise to cover ground from investment arbitration reforms to specialised arbitration forums that often escape mainstream attention.

Future of Investor-State Dispute Settlement

The first planned Session in the series will address “The New Architecture of ISDS: Working Group Three Process and Its Finalisation.” This timely topic examines the ongoing reforms to investor-state dispute settlement, particularly the UNCITRAL Working Group III process expected to finalise next year.

“This is a discussion that’s been going now for some time,” noted Pustay, who specialises in investment arbitration. “There have been a lot of criticism of the ISDS system in recent years. On the other hand, often when I discuss this with people, at the end of the day, we come to the conclusion that, criticism or not, no one has come up with anything better yet.”

Professor Živković added that the topic extends beyond just Working Group III to broader changes in investment protection, including “the rise of investor-state contracts, reshaping of investment dispute settlement also through use of domestic investment laws and statutes.”

Given the diverse stakeholders and competing interests involved, this promises to be a session with multiple perspectives represented.

UK Arbitration Act Amendments

The second Session will examine the recently amended UK Arbitration Act 1996, exploring what has changed and why these amendments matter on an international scale.

“It is quite a big topic. People are very keen to know what has changed, and how big the changes are,” explained Živković. “It’s not a major, major overhaul in any sense, but it is fine-tuning, improving some of the bits which were not perhaps up to date as much or what lessons were learned from practice.”

The significance extends well beyond the UK, as Pustay pointed out: “When the amendment to such a major arbitration act happens in this magnitude, it’s always a great learning opportunity. Even people from other jurisdictions, even if they don’t have arbitrations seated in the UK, there is still an opportunity to learn and think about how we can improve our own arbitration acts.”

This comparative perspective is particularly valuable for jurisdictions like the Czech Republic, where Pustay noted their arbitration law “very sorely needs updating.”

The Unsung Heroes: Non-Lawyers in Arbitration

The third session will highlight the often-overlooked role of non-lawyers in arbitration proceedings, examining their roles and career pathways.

“Often when you speak about arbitration, what comes to mind is lawyers, whether as arbitrator or counsel. We tend to forget that there is actually a great number of non-lawyers who are involved in arbitration and without whom arbitration would not work,” Pustay observed.

These essential contributors include expert witnesses, court reporters, and interpreters – roles that can significantly impact proceedings but rarely receive attention in professional discussions.

“Court reporters – to this day I think they are kind of wizards, given what they do,” Pustay admitted. “I still have no idea how they are able to do the transcript the way they do. They try to explain to me many times. I still just cannot understand it.”

Živković added that technical experts can sometimes be so crucial that “they might be the ones who are going to solve the dispute in practice, not the arbitrators.”

This session aims to shine a spotlight on these professionals and potentially feature guests from these fields explaining their work, training, and the unique challenges they face.

Commercial Courts: Competition or Complementary?

Another planned discussion will examine “Arbitration and New International Commercial Courts: Rivals or Not?” – addressing the growing trend of specialised international commercial courts established by various jurisdictions.

These courts aim to combine the flexibility of arbitration with some benefits of national court systems, raising questions about whether they compete with traditional arbitration services or fill a different niche.

“I don’t necessarily think that these are true rivals to arbitration,” Pustay offered. “What I think these courts do effectively is that they make court proceedings more efficient. They put another mark in the ‘pro’ column of court litigation.”

This Session will explore how these courts are positioning themselves in the dispute resolution ecosystem and whether they represent genuine competition or simply additional options for different types of disputes.

Specialised Arbitration Forums

Another planned Session will explore “lesser-known arbitrations” – specialised forums for sports, maritime, and intellectual property disputes that may not receive the same attention as commercial and investment arbitration.

“It’s more that we don’t know about these cases so much because they don’t get the publicity,” Pustay noted. He pointed out that maritime arbitrations represent “quite a big chunk of the total number of arbitrations taking place in the UK,” while some sports cases do receive significant media attention.

Živković highlighted the unique characteristics of these specialised forums, mentioning his own interest in “basketball arbitration and the Basketball Arbitration Tribunal in Geneva, which decides ex aequo et bono by default, which is quite unique in the world of arbitration.”

The speakers noted that each of these specialised areas has developed its own procedures and norms that might offer lessons for other forms of arbitration.

Measuring Arbitration’s Growth

One challenge acknowledged during the discussion was the difficulty of obtaining comprehensive data about arbitration activity globally. Due to confidentiality concerns, complete statistics remain elusive.

“Arbitration is inherently a confidential type of proceeding,” Pustay explained. “What you do get are statistics from institutions usually… but those are only their cases. Then there is a whole bunch of so-called ad hoc arbitration cases, which are not administered by any specific institution.”

This data gap makes it challenging to measure trends accurately, though submissions to ranking publications like Chambers and Legal 500 might offer partial insights.

Building a Community

The new arbitration Forum aims to foster dialogue among practitioners and academics while providing accessible insights into a complex field. Future sessions may include guest speakers with specialised expertise, and the moderators remain open to addressing breaking developments as they arise.

As the organisers prepare for their first substantive session, they invite participation from across the arbitration community to contribute to what promises to be an engaging and informative series of discussions on the evolution of this critical dispute resolution mechanism.

The biweekly sessions are scheduled to begin soon in April 2025, with specific dates to be announced on the Platforum9 app.