First CIArb Asia Pacific conference held in Australia | Practical Law

First CIArb Asia Pacific conference held in Australia | Practical Law

Andrew Robertson (Partner), Piper Alderman

First CIArb Asia Pacific conference held in Australia

Practical Law UK Legal Update 7-506-3381 (Approx. 3 pages)

First CIArb Asia Pacific conference held in Australia

by Practical Law
Published on 02 Jun 2011 • Australia, International
Andrew Robertson (Partner), Piper Alderman
From 27 to 28 May 2011, the first Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) Asia Pacific Conference, entitled Investment and Innovation: International Dispute Resolution in the Asia Pacific, was held in Sydney, Australia. The conference had speakers from 13 countries, including Australia, China, the UK and the US.
The current President of the CIArb, Doug Jones, opened and closed the conference, which was supported not just by speakers from across the region and beyond but also three current or retired Justices and the Australian Commonwealth Attorney-General. The New South Wales Attorney-General also spoke at an evening function.
The Australian representatives were keen to demonstrate Australia's support for commercial international arbitration, which has been a particular focus of Australian governments, both from a federal and State perspective. This has been shown recently on both the legislative and infrastructure front, for example by the opening of the Australian International Disputes Centre in Sydney in August 2010 (see Legal update, New arbitration centre planned for Sydney).
In addition to Australian representatives, speakers included Lord Goldsmith QC, former Attorney-General for the UK, Leng Haidong, Deputy Secretary General of the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) and representatives of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, the ICC International Court of Arbitration and Singapore's Maxwell Chambers.
The sessions in the conference covered a range of topics including:
  • Innovations in international arbitration.
  • Regional challenges to and opportunities for international arbitration.
  • International arbitration and the courts.
  • Drafting effective arbitration agreements.
  • International mediation in the region.
  • A commercial client's perspective on arbitration.
There were lively discussions, with questions from the floor on all topics, which suggested that the conference had managed to fully engage the delegates. The conference was delivered as a collaborative effort of the following branches of the CIArb: North America, East Asia, India, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Australia (for further information, see the CIArb website).