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    ‘The Evolution of Authority in International Arbitration: From Relations to Rules’ – Public Keynote Lecture by Dr Florian Grisel


    The keynote lecture of the 2023 Basel Winter Arbitration School delivered by Dr Florian Grisel (University of Oxford) explored the ways in which international arbitration had evolved from a ‘relation-based’ to a ‘rule-based’ model of governance, based on the case studies of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

    Initially, the systems of dispute resolution promoted by the ICC and ICSID displayed the features of the relation-based model. The ICC and ICSID sought to promote self-governance by pooling information concerning traders. A related goal was to encourage repeat business by creating an equitable method of dispute settlement that relied, to a large extent, on the participation of its users.

    The second step came, however, when self-governance failed to sustain cooperation, leading both the ICC and ICSID to promote a rule-based model of governance where third party-arbitrators and arbitral institutions gained increasing powers over the disputing parties. As a final step, arbitral tribunals evolved towards a fully judicialised system of dispute resolution, causing them to increasingly resemble national courts.

    Florian Grisel is Associate Professor of Socio-Legal Studies, and Deputy Director of the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies (CSLS) at the University of Oxford. Prior to joining Oxford, he was Deputy Director of the Centre de théorie et analyse du droit (University Paris 10 Nanterre – ENS), Research Fellow at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (Paris), and Reader in Transnational Law at King’s College London. Florian graduated in law and social sciences from Sciences Po Paris (BA/MA), Columbia University (MPA), Yale Law School (LLM), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (PhD) and the Ecole Normale Supérieure (Habilitation). He is admitted to practice law in Paris and New York. Florian was ranked as ‘Future Leader in International Arbitration’ by Who’s Who Legal and on the ‘Arbitration Powerlist’ by Legal 500.

    Watch other Arbitration Lab public lectures on arbitration by visiting https://arbitrationlab.com/video/

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