Researchers' Activities

At the online regional conference on Securing the Limits of the Blue Pacific organised by Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) on 9–11 September 2020, CIL Director Nilüfer Oral presented a paper titled ‘Legal Options and Institutional Responses to the Impacts of Sea Level Rise on Maritime Zones in the Context of International Law’.

In her presentation, Dr Oral spoke of a platform that will allow PIF members to examine the leaders’ commitment to preserving members’ existing rights stemming from maritime zones in the face of sea level rise. The conference outcomes will form the basis of recommendations to leaders on various legal options and institutional responses, to guide the region towards a collective effort to securing the Blue Pacific.

On 13 February 2019, Director Lucy Reed participated in the conference on ‘ISDS Reform: Mapping the Way Forward’ organised by the Asian Academy of International Law (AAIL) and the Hong Kong SAR Department of Justice. The welcoming speakers included Ms Teresa Cheng GBS SC JP, the Hong Kong SAR Secretary for Justice. The conference featured four panels—Investment Mediation, Appeal Mechanism for ISDS Awards, Third Party Funding in ISDS and Appointment of Arbitrators—and an Oxford Union style Debate on whether a Permanent Investment Court is a possible solution to ISDS problems. In an innovative approach, each panel had the benefit of a detailed discussion paper by a young private or government practitioner.

Professor Reed spoke on the Investment Mediation panel, on the topic of how to incentivise host governments and investors to use investor-State mediation. Also on the panel were (as pictured) Dr Anthony Neoh (AAIL Chairman), Professor Jack Coe from Pepperdine Law School and Paul Starr from King & Wood Mallesons. The discussion paper was from David Ng of the Hong Kong SAR Department of Justice.

On 18 January, Director Lucy Reed delivered the keynote address at the inaugural Schiefelbein Global Dispute Resolution Conference at the Sandra Day O’Connor School of Law at Arizona State University. Mr Lester Schiefelbein, the former Vice-President of Lockheed Martin Space Systems and CEO of the Silicon Valley Arbitration & Mediation Center, and his family have endowed this new Global Dispute Resolution Program for annual conferences and scholarships.

The title of Professor Reed’s address was ‘Ultima Thule: Prospects for International Commercial Mediation’, connecting the topic to Ultima Thule, the 4.5 billion-year-old rock newly discovered in outer-outer space and photographed by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft. Pending formal posting on the Shiefelbein Dispute Resolution Program website, a working copy of the address can be downloaded here.

The conference included panels on ‘Technology in Arbitration and Arbitration in Technology’, ‘China’s Belt and Road: Impressive Scale and Unprecedented Risk’ and ‘Atmospheric Arbitration: Resolving Climate Change Related Disputes’, as well as a roundtable with corporate counsel from Baker Hughes/GE Oil & Gas, Raytheon Missile Systems, Avent Inc and the American Arbitration Association. It was a global event, featuring speakers from Washington DC, San Francisco, New York, Phoenix, Houston, Tucson, London, Shenzen, Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore, The Hague and Mexico City.

The conference was organised by Mr Lester Schiefelbein and Professors Victoria Sahani and Art Hinshaw of the Sandra Day O’Connor School of Law, pictured here with Professor Reed.

CIL Director Lucy Reed delivered a keynote address on 15 September 2018 at the Conference in Commemoration of Professor David D Caron held at the Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California at Berkeley. At the time of his tragic, premature death in February 2018, Professor Caron was sitting as a judge on the Iran-US Claims Tribunal, an ad hoc judge in two ICJ cases, and an arbitrator in several complex international arbitrations. He was formerly Dean of the Dickson Poon School of Law at Kings College London and a chaired professor of law at Berkeley. Professors Reed and Caron, who were friends for some 35 years, had both served as President of the American Society of International Law and Chair of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration.

The conference, entitled ‘The Elegance of International Law’, featured high-level panels focussed on Professor Caron’s main areas of interest: international dispute resolution, legitimacy of international law and institutions, and the law of the sea and international environmental law. In her keynote—‘The David Caron Rule of X’—Professor Reed described and developed a lecture Professor Caron gave at the opening of the year in September 2017 at MIDS (Masters in International Dispute Resolution) at the Graduate Institute in Geneva. This was a work in progress, in which Professor Caron focussed on the need for international arbitrators to exercise personal discipline to limit their caseloads to the number of arbitrations they can responsibly handle—namely, a personal ‘X’ number of arbitrations—and thereby facilitate the process of more appointments for a more diverse pool of arbitrators.

The conference papers will be published by the Berkeley Journal of International Law and the Ecology Law Quarterly.

CIL Director Lucy Reed spoke at the ‘Forum on the Belt and Road Legal Cooperation: Rules and Coordination’ in Beijing on 2–3 July 2018. The conference was co-hosted at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China and the China Law Society, with the Chinese Foreign Minister HE Wang Yi giving the keynote speech. The legal focus—the so-called ‘soft connectivity’ of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)—was underscored by the identity of the co-sponsors: Chinese Society of International Law, China University of Political Science and Law, University of International Business and Economics, Beijing Law Society, and Department of Justice of the Government of Hong Kong SAR.

Professor Reed spoke on arbitration and mediation of investor-state disputes, on the panel ‘The BRI and International Dispute Settlement’. The other main panels addressed ‘The BRI and International Rule of Law’, ‘Rules, Treaties and Laws Supporting the BRI’, and ‘BRI Legal Exchange and Cooperation’. The conference had over 350 invited participants from Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, the Caribbean and South America.

CIL Director Professor Lucy Reed spoke at the international conference on ‘The Rise of International Commercial Courts’ at Qatar University on 13 May 2018. Professor Reed spoke about the Singapore International Commercial Court on a panel discussing comparative features of international commercial courts, including the Qatar International Court and Dispute Resolution Centre. The keynote speaker for the conference was Justice Ramesh Kannan of the Singapore High Court.

CIL Director Professor Lucy Reed spoke on the opening plenary panel of the bi-annual Congress of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA) in Sydney, Australia. The panel theme was ‘Law-Making in International Arbitration: What Legitimacy Challenges Lie Ahead?’, and Professor Reed spoke on arbitration tribunals as lawmakers. Professor Stephan Schill of the University of Amsterdam moderated the panel, and the other panellists were Singapore Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, ICC Court of Arbitration President Alexis Moure, and Professor Thomas Schultz of Kings College London. All the papers will be published in the official ICCA Congress Series (Wolters Kluwer).

Professor Reed also spoke at the follow-on AMINZ-ICCA International Arbitration Day in Queenstown, New Zealand, where the theme was ‘Making Arbitration Work in a Changing World: A Pacific View’. She was the commentator on Daniel Kaldermis’s keynote lecture entitled ‘International Arbitration in a Brave New World’.

On 1 February 2018, CIL Director Professor Lucy Reed spoke at a programme at the Supreme Court entitled ‘The Singapore International Commercial Court’s potential to advance the rule of law’. The conference was sponsored by the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC), the Singapore International Law Association and Freshfields (Singapore). The speakers included two judges on the SICC, Justice Quentin Lowe and Sir Vivian Ramsey, as well as Mr Francis Xavier SC of Rajah & Tann, and Mr Nicholas Lingard and Mr Robert Kirkness of Freshfields. Professor Reed spoke on what characteristics make an international commercial court truly international.

CIL Director Professor Lucy Reed served as faculty at the 2017 Summer Institute of the ASEAN Human Rights Resource Centre (HRRC) held in Bali on 29–31 January 2018 (the volcano risk having postponed the original summer date). The chairman of the conference was HE Ambassador Ong Keng Yong, who is the chairman of HRRC and a member of the CIL Board of Directors. The theme of the conference was ‘Trade, Investment, and the Rule of Law in ASEAN’. Professor Reed spoke on ‘The Rule of Law and Dispute Resolution in ASEAN’ and moderated a panel on ‘Rights Dimensions in Trade and Investment in the ASEAN Community’.

The HRRC is a non-profit academic centre headquartered at the University of Indonesia in Jakarta, in partnership with 11 other academic institutions in 7 out of 10 ASEAN member states. Its mission is to support a rights-based approach to ASEAN integration through research, training and education, and its core thematic areas are rule of law, business and human rights, and the rights of vulnerable populations. The Summer Institute is the HRRC’s signature annual event, organised in collaboration with the WSD Handa Center for Human Rights and International Justice at Stanford University and Udayana University.

CIL Director Professor Lucy Reed represented the Centre at several events at the 2017 Seoul ADR Festival during the week of 6 November. At the joint programme of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) and the Korea Commercial Arbitration Board (KCAB) on ‘Multiple Proceedings in Multiple Fora: Strategies and Synergies’, Prof Reed delivered the keynote address and was a speaker on the panel on ‘Consolidation and Joinder under Arbitral Institutional Rules’. She also spoke on the panel on International Investment Dispute Settlement, addressing ‘Momentum on Procedural Reforms:  The Way Forward’. Prof Reed was interviewed at the Young Arbitration Practitioners’ Forum ‘Fireside Chat’ organised by Young SIAC and the Korean Council for International Arbitration, and served as faculty for the second annual Seoul Academy for International Arbitration.

CIL Director Lucy Reed, Head of International Dispute Resolution (Practice Skills) J Christopher Thomas QC, Head of Investment Law and Policy Jansen Calamita, Practice Fellow Emily Choo, and Global Associates Mark Feldman and Tara Davenport were part of the faculty of the 2017 Singapore International Arbitration Academy, which was organised by the CIL on 25 October 2017–2 November 2017. Ms Emily Choo was also team coach to one of the teams that took part in the Academy’s arbitration moot.

CIL Research Associates Millicent McCreath, Robert Real and Zoe Scanlon attended the Academy as participants and took part in the arbitration moot. Ms Zoe Scanlon was awarded a prize for excellence in advocacy.

Professor Reed, Mr Thomas, Research Associate Professor (CIL) Calamita and Ms Choo were speakers and moderators in the panel sessions in the CIL International Conference on Global Currents in International Investment Law on 2 November 2017.

On 23 October 2017, CIL Director Lucy Reed delivered the Seoul Arbitration Lecture 2017, sponsored by the Seoul International Dispute Resolution Centre. The lecture title was ‘Suite for ISDS: Mediation, Arbitration and Appellate Bodies’. She addressed the need for lawyers practising in the field of investment treaty arbitration to expand their repertoire or suite of skills to keep up with developments. On the one hand, it is important to be prepared for the new investment court system envisioned in the new EU-driven free trade agreements and, on the other hand, to play a more active role in furthering settlements of suitable disputes by mediated negotiations. The audience comprised over 100 Korean ministry representatives, practitioners and academics.

On 12 September 2017, CIL Director Professor Lucy Reed delivered the John E.C. Memorial Lecture at the McGill Faculty of Law in Montreal. The title of Lucy’s lecture was ‘International Dispute Resolution Courts: Retreat or Advance?’, and she focused on the recent progress of the Singapore International Commercial Court. Lucy was introduced by McGill Dean Robert Leckey and Mr Pierre-Olivier Savoie. Professor Fabien Gelinas and Mr Stephen Drymer of Woods led the discussion that followed the lecture.

CIL participated in the 6th Biennial Conference of the Asian Society of International Law (AsianSIL) on 25–26 August 2017 in Seoul, Korea. The conference was organised by the AsianSIL, the Korea Chapter of the AsianSIL, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea. The theme of the conference was ‘Asia and International Law in Times of Uncertainty’. CIL Director Professor Lucy Reed chaired the session on ‘New Proposals for Investment Dispute Resolution Mechanism’. Head of CIL’s Ocean Law and Policy Programme Associate Professor Robert Beckman chaired the session on ‘New Voices in International Law’, which featured presentations from two CIL Research Associates (see below). He also gave a presentation on the implications of the South China Sea arbitral award.

CIL Director, Professor Lucy Reed, represented the Centre and spoke at the inaugural colloquium on International Law of the Asian Academy of International Law (AAIL) in Hong Kong on 7-8 July 2017. The theme of the colloquium was ‘Common Future in Asia’, with panels on ‘One Country Two Systems: Interaction with International Law’, ‘Investment Collaboration: Opportunities and Challenges for Asia’, and ‘Interpretation of Treaties and UNCLOS: The Regime of Islands, Rocks and Offshore Archipelagos’. The welcome and keynote speakers included the new Hong Kong Chief Executive Mrs Carrie Lam, GBM, GBS; Mr Rimsky Yuen, GBM, SC, JP, Secretary for Justice of Hong Kong; Professor Teresa Cheng SC, Chairman of the AAIL; Dr Li Shishi, President of the Chinese Society of International Law; Professor Zhang Yuejiao, Former WTO Appellate Body Member and Chair; Mr Liu Zhenmin, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of China (by video); and Mr Xie Zhenhua, Special Representative for Climate Change Affairs of China.

Professor Lucy Reed, CIL Director, represented the Centre at the 111th Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law in Washington DC on 12–15 April 2017. Professor Reed was President of the American Society of International Law from 2008 to 2010. With the topical theme of ‘What International Law Values’, highlights of the meeting included: the Grotius Lecture by Harvard University Professor David Armitage entitled ‘Civil War Time: From Grotius to the Global War on Terror’; an interview by New York University Law School Professor Philip Alston of Hudson Medal Winner Professor Georges Abi-Saab; an Assembly address by Professor Philippe Sands on the origins of the ideas of ‘genocide’ and ‘crimes against humanity’ as illustrated in his new book East West Street; and a keynote address by the new General Counsel of the World Bank Group, Ms Sandie Okoro, on gender-based violence entitled ‘Seen and Not Heard’. NUS Law Faculty Dean and CIL Board Deputy Chairman, Professor Simon Chesterman, spoke on the panel on ‘Claims Against the United Nations: From Within and Without’. Ayelet Berman, soon to join CIL as a Senior Research Fellow, spoke on the panel on “The Rise of Multistakeholder Global Governance’. Professor Reed, Dean Chesterman and NUS Professor Tony Anghie attended the Colleague Societies Breakfast as representatives of the Asian Society of International Law. [Photos]

On 27 October 2016, CIL Director Lucy Reed delivered the 31st Queen Mary University–Freshfields Arbitration Lecture in London, on the topic of ‘Ab(use) of Due Process: Sword vs Shield’. Professor Reed, who for many years led the Freshfields International Arbitration Group, framed her topic with the example of Donald Trump impugning the US federal judge who is presiding over a case against Trump University, by claiming the Mexican heritage of the judge—who was born and raised in Indiana—is biased because of Trump’s plans to construct a wall at the Mexican border if he is elected President.

Professor Reed described a growing trend in international arbitration for the unreasonable invocation of procedural complaints ‘under the banner of due process’ as a ‘brazen strategy’ to seek to pressurise arbitral tribunals. Her thesis was that arbitral tribunals should not allow parties to conflate routine procedural complaints (however stridently or repeatedly articulated, as Trump has done in interviews) with genuine ‘due process’ violations which have the potential to undermine the legitimacy of the arbitral process.

Defining due process as ‘a person’s right not to be deprived as property or other rights without the opportunity to represent themselves before neutral judges’, Professor Reed outlined the historical evolution of the concept of due process as a shield for legitimacy in international arbitration, before providing some practical illustrations of the strategy of (ab)using due process as a sword to influence the outcome. She focused on the boundaries and grey areas between routine procedural complaints and true due process violations. She concluded by urging arbitrators to confront the strategy, to prevent toleration leading to normalisation.

Due process, in Professor Reed’s words, ‘is meant to be a shield against procedural unfairness’ and for a party to ‘gleefully use due process as a sword is to cheapen due process’. As she concluded: neither Zorro nor the Three Muskeeters should be welcome in international arbitration hearing rooms.

On 20 July 2016, CIL Director Lucy Reed participated in the Panel Discussion on The Rule of Law and Dispute Resolution held in Singapore. The panel discussion, which was accompanied by a performance by the Temple Church Boys’ Choir from London, was moderated by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon and was jointly organised by The Honourable Societies of Inner and Middle Temple, The Temple Church and Singapore Academy of Law. To view the eBrochure, please click here. [View photo]

The Expert-Level Workshop on Addressing the Threats Posed by Sea Level Rise was meant for the UN Delegates and Staff to learn relevant background on an issue of significant concern for a growing number of Member States, including those most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, such as communities in Small Island Developing States and coastal states.