Description

Maritime and commercial arbitration may involve a number of choice of law considerations. There are at least three possible legal systems – the law applicable to the arbitration agreement, the law applicable to the arbitral process, and the law applicable to the substance of the dispute.

As far as the applicable law of the arbitration agreement is concerned, clarity is important because any question as to the validity, scope and interpretation of the agreement to arbitrate is determined in accordance with its applicable law. However, determining the applicable law of the arbitration agreement is not entirely straightforward. Indeed, where there is no express choice being made in respect of the arbitration agreement, courts are having to choose between the law of the seat or the law of the substance of the dispute as being more closely connected to the arbitration agreement.

The seminar highlights some of the ambiguities in the relevant English case law and offers practical suggestions on how to avoid any unintended consequences. It also analyses whether and to what degree these inconsistencies might be resolved in future judicial law making. The seminar also addresses the impact of the Rotterdam Rules on choice of law issues in maritime arbitration.

About The Speaker

Professor Jason Chuah is Head of Department and Professor of Commercial and Maritime Law at the City Law School, City University London and Visiting Research Professor at the Centre for Maritime Law (CML) at NUS. He was the holder of a Cambridge Commonwealth Trust Award, Barclays Bank Scholarship and the Cambridge Commonwealth Fellowship at Cambridge University. He also has a Professional Certificate in Export with Distinction from the UK Institute of Export. He has published well over 200 articles and is the author of nine books, including most recently Cases and Materials on the Carriage of Goods by Sea 4 th ed (Informa Routledge, 2016) and Law of International Trade 5 th ed (Sweet & Maxwell). He is editor of several international journals, including the Journal of International Maritime Law, International Company and Commercial Law Review, International Trade Law and Regulation, Shipping & Trade Law, International Transport Law Review, and Finance & Credit Law. He has served on research councils in the UK, South Africa, Canada and Colombia. He has led numerous public and in-house professional training courses and has been involved in various consultations with the Ministry of Justice, the OECD, the ICC, the Association of British Insurers, UNCITRAL, etc. He is also Executive Director of the London Universities Maritime Law and Policy Group.

Who Should Attend

Lawyers, In-house counsel and legal officers working in the maritime industry and in commercial trade; ship owners, arbitrators, banks and financial institutions, traders, charterers, forwarders and those handling claims arising in maritime and commercial contexts.