Challenges and Opportunities for Asia-Pacific International Arbitration: Symposium Report, and News on a Forthcoming Publication

Posted on 10/06/2020 by Dr Benjamin Hayward

By Dr Benjamin Hayward, Professor Luke Nottage, and Dr Nobumichi Teramura

On Friday 15 November 2019, Sydney Law School hosted the ‘Challenges and Opportunities for Asia-Pacific International Arbitration’ symposium.

The event addressed a range of dispute resolution issues: international commercial arbitration, investor-State dispute settlement (including investor-State mediation), and the rise of international commercial courts. Academics, practitioners, and (both current and former) judges were in attendance: ensuring that a wide spectrum of views were addressed throughout the day.

The symposium focused on dispute resolution in the Asia-Pacific region. This is a topic of significant interest to the Australian arbitration community. As far back as 2009, the then-Attorney General Rob Hulls introduced reforms to Australia’s International Arbitration Act aiming to promote Australia as a regional dispute resolution hub. More than 10 years later, this is a goal to which Australia still aspires.

The symposium addressed arbitration in the Australian, New Zealand, Japanese, Indonesian, Hong Kong, and mainland Chinese contexts. It followed a counterpart event hosted by the University of Hong Kong in July 2019.

The symposium’s international comparisons provide much food for thought for the Australian arbitration community, as we seek to continually improve the local landscape. For example, what degree of confidentiality should be preserved in Australian arbitral proceedings? And what lessons can we learn from arbitration experience, in the region, relating to the possible future establishment of an Australian international commercial court?

A collection of papers presented at both events will be published in late 2020 (or early 2021) in a Kluwer volume titled New Frontiers in Asia-Pacific International Arbitration and Dispute Resolution. Details of the volume, including links to pre-publication versions of some papers, are available here.

Of particular interest in the Australian context will be:

* Professors the Hon Marilyn Warren and Clyde Croft’s chapter titled ‘An International Commercial Court for Australia: An Idea Worth Taking to Market’;

* Albert Monichino SC and Nobumichi Teramura’s chapter ‘New Frontiers for International Commercial Arbitration in Australia: Beyond the “(Un)Lucky Country”’;

* Luke Nottage addressing ‘Confidentiality and Transparency in International Arbitration: Asia-Pacific Tensions and Expectations’; and

* Luke Nottage and Ana Ubilava’s chapter on ‘Novel and Noteworthy Aspects of Australia’s Recent Investment Agreements and ISDS Policy’.

Readers of this blog might also be particularly interested in Stacie Strong’s chapter titled ‘Promoting International Mediation Through the Singapore Convention’, that Convention also having been addressed at the December 2019 ADRRN Roundtable. This chapter will mention some empirical data from a study addressing the use of mediation in resolving international commercial disputes.

Interestingly, while Australia’s geographic isolation is thought to be impeding its emergence as a regional dispute resolution hub, COVID-19 has led to the rapid adoption of virtual hearings in civil litigation and in arbitration. The pandemic may have unintentionally highlighted a means by which Australian arbitration and an Australian international commercial court could flourish in the region: notwithstanding the unavoidable ‘social distance’ between Australia and our neighbours.

These recent developments, post-dating the symposium, will be addressed in the forthcoming Kluwer volume. They will be of great interest to those invested in Australia’s potential as a venue for international commercial dispute resolution.

Put that in your Diary: National Mediation Conference 2021

Posted on 05/03/2020 by Associate Professor Becky Batagol

We now know the date as well as the location of the next National Mediation Conference. Now’s the time to put it on your diary. NMC is a practitioner-focused conference with a strong academic edge, covering all areas of dispute resolution. You can see the details of the last NMC here.

The next NMC will be held in Alice Springs, Northern Territory from 1-4 September 2021. Importantly, the conference will be hosted on the grounds of Desert Knowledge Precinct, a beautiful 73 hectare property on the South Stuart Highway, 8km south of the Alice Springs CBD.

Spectacular Alice: ANZC by Ayi Lui (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

A copy of the press release from Prof Laurence Boulle, Chair of the NMC is posted below. Both Laurence and Alysoun Boyle are members of the ADRR Network and are planning the 2021 conference.

The directors of the National Mediation Conference Ltd acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia, and in the context of this announcement especially the Western Aranda and Central Arrernte peoples of the Alice Springs region. We recognise their connection to land, waters and culture, and we pay our deep respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.

In this regard the NMC is delighted to announce that the Desert Knowledge Precinct Partners (Centre for Appropriate Technology, Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education, Desert Knowledge Australia and the Desert Peoples Centre) have issued an invitation to us and the dispute resolution community to hold NMC 2021 at their facilities in Alice Springs (https://www.dka.com.au/activities/dk-precinct).

The NMC directors have accepted this invitation and would also like to acknowledge the valuable assistance from the Northern Territory Business Events Support fund for NMC 2021.

The Welcome Reception for the conference will be on the evening of Wednesday 1 September 2021 and the event will run over the following three days, namely 2, 3 and 4 September. In setting these dates the NMC Board has taken into account the timetable of The Ghan train from Adelaide to Alice Springs, and return.

Please save these dates and spread the word for an innovative, stimulating, and inspiring conference in the heart of the country.

The NMC Board is currently appointing a Design Committee to plan the conference and is commencing a formal process for selecting a Professional Conference Organiser. In due course, the Design Committee will start providing regular updates on all aspects of the conference.

Now it’s time to Save the Date and start preparing for a superb engagement in a wondrous setting.

See you in Alice.

Professor Laurence Boulle AM

Chair, NMC Board 3 March 2020

Open letter of thanks and appreciation #ADRRN18

Posted on 07/12/2018 by Associate Professor Becky Batagol

By Jo Burnett, Research Masters student, Southern Cross University

The ADR Roundtable 2018 was a network event and conference on the Sunshine Coast in Dec. I came across this event by chance when looking for resources in ADR for research purposes.

Jo presenting her paper at the ADR Research Network meeting on 4 December 2018

Submitting a draft paper for presenting was a new and exciting prospect for me and I was unsure of the format, audience, members and a little intimidated by many of the esteemed academics and authors submitting and blogging on the ADR blog site.

The organisers Dr Sue Douglas and Dr Lola Akin Ojelabi, and commentator and co-founder Dr Becky Batagol were in contact early through email and very reassuring and approachable.

First contact was a group meal on the evening beforehand and gave us all a chance to meet and greet in an informal and friendly way over dinner and drinks, this was a great idea and not knowing anyone, helped me enormously to settle and get to know everyone. The meal on day two was also a great time to relax and get to know everyone.

Jo and Drossos deep in discussion: Chats over coffee before the days starts are a great way to get to know other members and continue conversations from the sessions

First day arrival at The University of the Sunshine Coast was terrifically relaxed with great facilities and a warm friendly atmosphere. The quality and range of speakers and presentations was exciting. A number of changes were discussed with all the attendees and the program was altered to suit the number and requests of the attendees, making this a truly collaborative event.

Group discussion on each paper is a central feature of the network roundtable format

The quality and industry expertise of all the presenters and the range of presentations and research was astounding. For a new researcher in the field, this event, the contacts and exposure has been invaluable and all in the interest of building capacity for and in researchers in the DR field. Again, a big thank you for the organisers and founders who provide their time and expertise on a voluntary basis.

Mary Riley, Janet Barnes and Becky Batagol in the audience

I will definitely being attending next year’s event in Dec 2019 and will be further along in my research journey, with a big input from the feedback of the commentators, chair and attendees who’s feedback has been of great value and merit to my research.

Anyone who is conducting research in this field would find great benefit in attending, for me, this experience and contacts have been unbelievably rewarding.

Thank you all.

Joanna Burnett has been a professional Social Worker for 15 years, receiving her undergraduate degree in 2003 from Deakin University in Melbourne. Prior to receiving her degree, Joanna had been working in the northern NSW local magistrate’s courts supporting women experiencing domestic violence in a court support role in a women’s service, non-government agency since 1998. Joanna worked in a mental health and dual diagnosis hospital for the past 10 years and gained a Master degree in Forensic Mental Health through Griffith University in 2013. She continues to work in her private practice across NSW/QLD border as an AASW accredited family violence and mental health social worker as a counsellor.For the past 12 months, Joanna has been working with a family law firm in a mediation program in a family violence screening and assessment role and is enrolled in a Masters of thesis (Research) with Southern Cross University conducting research in family violence, FDR and Social Work.

National Mediation Conference 2019

Posted on 12/02/2018 by Associate Professor Becky Batagol

Photo Credit Tim Hughes Creative commons

The date for the next National Mediation Conference has now been set. Originally the bi-annual conference was to be held in September 2018, but it was delayed.

The Board of National Mediation Conference has now confirm that the next National
Mediation Conference – NMC2019 – will convene in Canberra at the National Convention Centre on 15 – 17 April 2019. This is just before the Easter/Passover break.

A website will be established shortly and we will announce on this blog the URL.

The Board of National Mediation Conference have stated:

The Board of National Mediation Conferences Ltd is looking forward to a very successful conference in 2019, and welcomes interest and participation from the mediation community, as well as from the broader ADR community.

National Mediation Conference 2014

Posted on 27/11/2013 by Associate Professor Becky Batagol

The 14th National Mediation Conference will be held from Tuesday 9 – Thursday 11 September 2014. Chosen from delegates’ feedback, the selected theme for 2014 is “Pathways to Resolution: the Challenge of Diversity”.

The conference website has just been launched and can be found here.

Conference Co-conveners Tania Sourdin and Walter Ibbs explain what the conference is and how it works

The Conference will bring together diverse practitioners, policy makers, researchers, managers, judges and leaders in the field of mediation, negotiation and dispute resolution to explore the diversity of experience, conflict, intellectual outlook, cognitive style, cultural competence and many other attributes that contribute to the richness of the resolution environment.

This Melbourne NMC is especially exciting for those of us who do research in the field of dispute resolution, as for the first time the National Mediation Conference will be combined with the Research Forum of the National Alternative Dispute Resolution Advisory Council (NADRAC). The two great dispute resolution research events in Australia will now be combined. It is going to be a dispute resolution ideas fest and we should all expect to walk away mind-boggled and tongue-tied. Sourdin and Ibbs write ‘This addition will provide delegates with the opportunity to meet and engage on the latest trends and issues in ADR research.’ The 2 day Research forum will start on the last day of the NMC and will continue the next day also.

Since the demise of NADRAC, it is not clear what the status of the research forum will be. But there are many working hard behind the scenes to ensure that it goes ahead regardless.

The call for papers is now open and abstracts can be submitted from now until 21 February 2014 here.

The theme of the conference is ‘Diversity’.

The Conference Organisers are particularly interested in presentations that support this theme. The concurrent sessions will be grouped into the following general streams and presenters should nominate to which stream their presentation or poster will relate.

The streams are: