Newsletter - 2/2017. Topics:

Transcription

1 Newsletter - 2/2017 Topics: Honoured to have won the GAR Guide to Regional Arbitration Award for the Arbitral Institution that impressed in the last year" New presidency of SCAI s Board Upcoming events Past events Honoured to have won the GAR Guide to Regional Arbitration Award for the "Arbitral Institution that impressed in the last year" From left to right: Vanessa Liborio, Luca Beffa, Philipp Habegger, Caroline Ming, Gabrielle Nater-Bass, Christopher Boog, Frank Spoorenberg We are delighted to announce that SCAI won the GAR Guide to Regional Arbitration Award for the "Arbitral Institution that impressed in the last year" at the GAR Awards Ceremony which took place in Milan on 29 March In previous years, this was awarded to SHIAC (2016) and to LCIA-MIAC (2015). SCAI was nominated in two categories: (i) the Arbitral Institution that impressed in the last year and (ii) the Best Innovation by an individual or an organization. These nominations recognize the Swiss Chambers' continued dedication to further helping companies to resolve their disputes in a cost and time efficient manner after more than 150 years, through the launch of a number of initiatives including the creation of a new revolutionary customizable arbitration clause to expedite procedures, a new website containing materials and links in various languages, supporting the planned update of the highly respected Swiss international arbitration law, and the election of a new President of the Court, Ms Gabrielle Nater-Bass. In addition, Switzerland was shortlisted as one of the jurisdictions that has made great progress for its continued support of the international economy and arbitration community, through the continuous improvement of its legal system and the active support of its state courts, 500 years of neutrality and for its dynamic and reputed arbitration community. Our shortlisting in the category of the Best Innovation by an individual or an organization, was mainly due to SCAI's new revolutionary customizable arbitration clause for companies.

2 This clause allows companies and other users of international arbitration to agree in advance on superexpedited arbitration proceedings and to tailor the arbitration clause to their specific needs, while ensuring the effectiveness of the clause and the resulting arbitral award. Already available in English and French, the clause will soon be made available on the SCAI website in more languages. The Model Arbitration Clause lays the foundation for the customizable arbitration clause, which offers four different options aimed at saving time and cost. These options, which may be chosen individually or all together, are as follows: (1) Expedited Procedure, with a sole arbitrator and final award in 6 months; (2) Documentary evidence only (i.e. no hearing for oral arguments or witnesses); (3) Faster response time for the Respondent's Answer (15 days instead of 30); (4) Faster constitution of the arbitral tribunal (15 days instead of 30). The customizable clause also provides parties with the option to initiate mediation under the Swiss Rules of Mediation at any time before or during the arbitral proceedings. Users may select some or all options by simply clicking on the relevant parts of the customizable arbitration clause and then on Show Arbitration Clause below. The resulting arbitration clause can then be ed, forwarded or copied directly into a contract. The customizable arbitration clause is an example of SCAI's pioneering role in rendering arbitration proceedings in a more time and cost efficient manner. As part of this engagement, SCAI also held its first Innovation Conference in February 2017 on traditional and innovative ways to expedite arbitral proceedings. You can find the report here. A second SCAI Innovation Conference will be held in February 2018 (see below). We also take this opportunity to congratulate Ms. Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler, one of the drafters of our Swiss Rules of International Arbitration, and one of the most recognized arbitrators worldwide, on her election as President of ICCA. Caroline Ming, Executive Director and General Counsel of SCAI with Gabriel Nater-Bass, President of the SCAI Arbitration Court and Partner at Homburger The GAR Guide to Regional Arbitration Award for the "Arbitral Institution that impressed in the last year" New presidency of SCAI s Board

3 It is with great pleasure that we welcome the new president of SCAI s Board, Mr. Vincent Subilia, Deputy Director of the Geneva Chamber of Commerce ( CCIG ), who takes over the presidency from Jacques Jeannerat and was appointed on 23 March 2017, during SCAI Extraordinary General Assembly. Mr. Subilia trained and worked as a lawyer, before focusing his career on the economic promotion of Geneva. He is now in charge of the International Affairs department within the CCIG which includes arbitration. Mr. Subilia has reiterated his commitment to keep arbitration and mediation amongst the main services provided by the Swiss Chambers of Commerce through SCAI. Upcoming Events We invite you to note the following events in your calendars: P tit Déjeuner de la Médiation Révision du Règlement Suisse de Médiation Commerciale Geneva, 5 April 2017, 08:15-09:30. Organized by CSMC (Suisse Romande), CCIG and SCAI CCIG offices, 4 Boulevard du Théâtre, 2 nd floor, Geneva. This mediation breakfast will be the 2 nd event organized on this theme and will allow mediation users and practitioners to discuss potential areas of improvement of the Swiss Rules of Commercial Mediation with SCAI. Valériane Oreamuno and Morgane Morand will be present and represent SCAI. There is no fee to attend and registration is not needed. Further similar events may be held in other cities upon request to office@swissarbitration.org. Arbitration Breakfast in Zurich: E-Discovery in Arbitration Proceedings. Zurich, 10 April 2017, 08:00-09:30. ZHK, Selnaustrasse 32, 5 th floor. This event will focus on the current issue of e-discovery in arbitration proceedings. Elena Stancato and Eliane Rossire will be present and represent SCAI. It is free of charge but registration is required. More information and registration are available at Zurich@swissarbitration.org. IV Annual RAA Conference and Members meeting Moscow, 20 April 2017, 08:30-18:30. Venue: Marriott Grand Hotel, 26/1 Tverskaya Street, Moscow. Organized by the Russian Arbitration Association (RAA). Topics will include: Russian arbitration reforms, 2016 landmark arbitration cases in Russia, inquisitorial rules of evidence and women in arbitration. Caroline Ming, SCAI Executive Director and General Counsel will represent SCAI. The full program and registration details are available here. IDI Conference 2017: Facilitating the recourse to arbitration for distribution disputes the IDArb expedited procedure rules and the list of arbitrators specialized in distribution Paris, 9-10 June 2017, two all-days event. Venue: Cercle National des Armées, 8 Place Saint-Augustin Paris. Organized by the International Distribution Institute (IDI). The event will focus on the new project developed on arbitration between IDI, SCAI and the CCIG, with the aim of (i) establishing and managing a list of arbitrators having a specific experience in one or more fields of distribution law, and (ii) tailoring an expedited and cost-effective arbitration procedure, managed by SCAI under the Swiss Rules of International Arbitration. Vincent Subilia, President of SCAI's Board, will be present and represent SCAI. More details about the program and the registration fees are available here. Second SCAI Innovation Conference Zurich, 1 st February Organized by SCAI with the support of the Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA). Following the success of the first SCAI Innovation Conference in 2017, SCAI will again organize a SCAI Innovation Conference in 2018 to discuss and share traditional and innovative ways to conduct arbitral proceedings in a cost efficient way. Participants will be encouraged to comment on the ideas for improvement proposed by the panellists and to share their own ideas in view of the drafting of a joint paper. Mark your calendars, registrations will open in December You can find the 2017 SCAI Innovation Conference Report here. Past Events

4 Le Règlement Suisse d arbitrage au service des entreprises / Serving the needs of companies: the Swiss Rules of International Arbitration. SCAI held a Conference at the Swiss Embassy, in Paris, on 17 March 2017, in collaboration with the CCIG and the Swiss Business Hub France. Numerous lawyers, in-house counsel, professors and people from the business community attended this event. Throughout the discussion, H.E Bernardino Regazzoni, M e Boris Vittoz, M e Cyril Bonan, M e Philippe Pinsolle as well as Vincent Subilia (CCIG), Caroline Ming (SCAI) and Jennyfer Dreyfuss (SCAI), took the floor. This event was aimed at demonstrating the strengths of arbitration under the Swiss Rules. It was also the opportunity for SCAI to present its new website and turbo customizable arbitration clause which are now available French. From left to right: Vincent Subilia, Me Cyril Bonan, Caroline Ming, Me Philippe Pinsolle, Me Boris Vittoz and Jennyfer Dreyfuss International Arbitration Conference: Choices for Corporate Counsel Earlier this month, Caroline Ming, Executive-Director of SCAI, attended the International Arbitration Conference for In-House Counsel in London, organized by the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), the Corporate Counsel International Arbitration Group (CCIAG), the Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA) and the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution (CPR). Ms. Ming intervened as part of the first panel on Emergency Proceedings and Interim Awards to describe the procedure under the Swiss Rules of International Arbitration ("Swiss Rules") and report on the seven Emergency Arbitration cases that were administered by SCAI under these rules so far and on the ex-parte measures made available to parties under art. 43 and 26 of the Swiss Rules. ArbitralWomen Breakfast Meeting and Panel Discussion: Gathering and Weighing Evidence in Parallel Emergency Arbitration Proceedings On 31 March 2017, SCAI co-organized the ArbitralWomen Breakfast Meeting with ArbitralWomen and DLA Piper. This event meeting took place at DLA Piper s office in Milan, as the arbitration community was gathered in the city for the IBA 20 th Annual International Arbitration Day Conference. Gabrielle Nater- Bass, Domitille Baizeau and Caroline Ming were present and represented SCAI at this event. Ms. Gabrielle Nater-Bass, President of the SCAI Court of Arbitration, welcoming and introducing the members of the Panel.

5 From left to right: Ms. Wendy Miles, Ms. Francesca Mazza, Ms. Domitille Baizeau and Ms. Shannon Lazzarini Ms. Domitille Baizeau who speaks about gathering and weighing evidence in parallel Emergency Arbitration proceedings Swiss Chambers' Arbitration Institution Ms. Morgane Morand & Ms. Caroline Ming, Executive Director and General Counsel Switzerland, 31 March 2017