Our fifth Plenary Panel focused on a key challenge in international arbitration: navigating conflict-of-laws questions across different legal systems, rules and approaches.
The panel presented the first results of an ambitious comparative project by the ILA Committee on Conflict-of-Laws Issues in International Arbitration. 59 members from 36 jurisdictions worked through a detailed questionnaire covering 15 issues across the full life cycle of an arbitration — from who is bound by an arbitration agreement and arbitrability, to proceedings, ethics, recognition and enforcement. The result: 33 national reports, completed just over one year after the Committee began its substantive work. The reports now form the foundation for the next phase, with publication planned for later this year.
The project responds to a persistent challenge in international arbitration: diverging rules, methodologies and approaches can create uncertainty for tribunals, courts, parties and practitioners. By bringing together experiences from jurisdictions around the world, the Committee aims to identify practical conflict-of-laws principles that can promote greater consistency, efficiency and legal certainty.
The panel was convened by Nikolaus Pitkowitz, founding partner and head of the Dispute Resolution practice at Pitkowitz & Partners, Honorary President of the Vienna International Arbitral Centre (VIAC), and Co-Chair of the ILA Committee on Conflict-of-Laws Issues in International Arbitration. He was joined by Mariel Dimsey, independent arbitrator based in Hong Kong and former Secretary-General of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre; Christian Koller, Professor and Vice Dean at the University of Vienna; Matthias Lehmann, Professor of Private Law, Private International and Comparative Law at the University of Vienna; and Wendy Lin, Partner at WongPartnership LLP and Co-Chair of the ILA Committee on Conflict-of-Laws Issues in International Arbitration.
