Publish time: Wed Dec 04 10:58:18 CST 2019 Contributor:Xiaoxiao Ma
On 18 November 2019, the 7th International Arbitration Conference of the 2019 Australian Arbitration Week jointly hosted by the Australian Centre of International Commercial Arbitration (the “ACICA”) and the Chartered Institute of Arbitration Australia branch (the “CIArb Australia”) and supported by the Beijing Arbitration Commission / Beijing international Arbitration Center (the “BAC”) was held in Brisbane, capital city of Queensland, Australia.
This conference was themed “Building Bridges: Resolving Disputes through International Arbitration”, where renowned experts within the international arbitration circle had discussions on frontier issues of international arbitration. The event has attracted extensive attention and support from all over the globe. More than 100 professionals from five continents and fifteen jurisdictions shared and exchanged their experiences during this event. Led by Dr. Chen Fuyong, Deputy Secretary General of the BAC, the BAC delegation attended this conference, and Dr. Chen delivered a keynote speech.
At the beginning of the conference, The Hon Chief Justice Catherine Holmes of the Supreme Court of Queensland and The Hon Justice Patrick Keane AC of the High Court of Australia delivered welcome addresses, respectively. The Hon Chief Justice Catherine Holmes welcomed professionals from all over the world to Brisbane to jointly witness the opening of the 2019 Australian Arbitration Week. She said that as the New York Convention has been implemented for 60 years, arbitration has won extensive recognition around the world, and has developed from a territorial dispute resolution method into a dispute resolution method most frequently chosen by commercial entities. Looking into the future, she believed that arbitration will have more and more challenges, and this conference was exactly meant to have helpful exploration for handling such challenges.
In his welcome address, The Hon Justice Patrick Keane AC mentioned that courts’ growingly friendly and inclusive attitude toward arbitration provided a good environment to arbitration development. During the past three decades, with Australian government’s clear and strong support to arbitration, and thanks to arbitration’s real nature of party autonomy, arbitration as a dispute resolution method has been increasingly popular. To provide professional and qualified dispute resolution service is the target of each of arbitration practitioners. It is not only that parties should be aware of risk and responsibility when entering into a contract, but anyone engaged in arbitration, from law maker to arbitrator, should also be aware of risk and responsibility.
The Hon Chief Justice Catherine Holmes
The Hon Justice Patrick Keane AC
Along with the quick development of the Chinese economy, the Chinese arbitration industry has experienced rapid growth. The Belt and Road Initiative has won extensive acceptance and support around the world, and the world has increasingly longed for professional voices from the Chinese arbitration circle on Belt and Road dispute resolution. It is therefore that Dr. Chen Fuyong was invited to deliver a keynote speech on “New Developments of Dispute Resolution in the Context of Belt and Road Initiative in China”. Dr. Chen firstly presented an introduction of the new measures taken by Chinese arbitration institutions in response to the Belt and Road Initiative, such as the Belt and Road Arbitration Program launched by the BAC jointly with the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration (KLRCA) and the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (CRCICA). Next, Dr. Chen highlighted the new developments of Chinese arbitration in the context of Belt and Road Initiative. He introduced the establishment, organization and requirements of case acceptance of the Chinese international commercial court, and then he mentioned the Chinese government’s supportive, open and cooperative attitude toward the ISDS mechanism. As to the details, he shared with the audience the BAC Investment Arbitration Rules that came into force on 1 October 2019, and provided analyses on the rules’ consideration given to fairness and efficiency, the balance between confidentiality and transparency, the improvement of the acceptance and enforceability of arbitral awards by referring to specific provisions. Thereafter, Dr. Chen revealed the quick development and rapid growth of Chinese arbitration and the BAC in recent years based on the statistics of the BAC’s case handling. Apart from that, he represented the BAC’s efforts and endeavors for better meeting international arbitration users’ expectation and dealing with complex new type of commercial disputes by highlighting the BAC’s newly revised arbitration rules. At last, he said that the conferences on commercial dispute resolution in China held by the BAC each year has become a platform where the BAC could share the new developments and experiences of the Chinese dispute resolution in hotspot industries with the international dispute resolution circle, and he expected to see more and more legal professionals pay attention to the Chinese arbitration development.
Mr. Chan Leng Sun SC, Deputy Chairman of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, and Ms. Olga Boltenko, Partner of Fangda Partners Hong Kong, provided comments and views on hotspots such as the appeal mechanism in investment arbitration and the international commercial arbitration court following Dr. Chen’s speech.
Dr. Chen Fuyong
Mr. Chan Leng Sun SC and Ms. Olga Boltenko
The conference
The conference had panel discussions on “Hot Topics in International Arbitration”, “Resources and Energy”, “Intellectual Property” and “Mergers and Acquisitions”, where experts from famous international arbitration institutions, law firms and arbitration societies shared their insightful opinions.
During the conference, the BAC delegation had exchanges with other attendees on Chinese arbitration experiences, the BAC’s relevant practice and other frontier issues.
Group photo of Dr. Chen Fuyong, Mr. Matthew Gearing, Chairperson of HKIAC (first from left), Ms. Caroline Kenny, President of CIArb Australia (second from left), Ms. Brenda Horrigan, President of ACICA (third from left), and Ms. Paula Hodges QC, President of LCIA (fourth from left)
As China is having increasingly close economic and trade ties with Australia, it is of profound significance to strengthen the exchanges between the arbitration circles and to promote the mutual understanding and mutual trust between arbitration practitioners of the two countries. The BAC as a leading Chinese institute of diversified dispute resolution with certain influence worldwide, has been proactively organizing and participating in international conferences, having international exchanges and giving voice of China. You are welcome to pay attention to the BAC website and WeChat account for more information.