Stavros  
BREKOULAKIS

 
Michael & Laura Hwang Professor in International Arbitration

Stavros Brekoulakis is the Michael and Laura Hwang Chair in International Arbitration at the National University of Singapore.

Stavros is the author of eight monographs, books and edited volumes and more than 30 articles in leading peer-reviewed law journals and is the General Editor of the Journal of International Dispute Settlement; Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Arbitration, Mediation and Dispute Management; the Co-editor of Kluwer’s International Arbitration Law Library Series; and deputy Editor of Arbitration International.

Stavros has led several policy projects and advised governmental, intergovernmental, and non-governmental organisations, including as Co-Chair of the International Council of Commercial Arbitration Task Force on Third Party Funding; member of the London Bar Reform Committee; the Steering Committee of the UNCITRAL Academic Forum on Investor-State Dispute Settlement; the Investment Expert Trade Advisory Group of the UK Department for International Trade, Governing body of ICCA; LCIA Court; and ICC’S Commission on Arbitration.

FULL BIOGRAPHY

Contact

6516 5454
ETS 02-12

Education

PhD (London), LLM (London), LLB (Athens)

Current Courses

International Construction Contracts And Arbitration

Stavros Brekoulakis is the Michael and Laura Hwang Chair in International Arbitration at the National University of Singapore.

Stavros is widely recognised as a leading authority in the field of international arbitration and has been invited to give the Summer Course on Private International Law at the Hague Academy of International Law in 2026.

As a recognition of his contribution to the field, Stavros is listed as a Global Elite Thought Leader by Who’s Who Legal: Arbitration Thought Leaders, recognised as “a critical and novel thinker as an academic”; “a reigning thought leader in the arbitration space”; “one of the great minds in the international arbitration world”.

Stavros is a leading public speaker contributing to the public debates in the field of international arbitration through his keynote speeches and public lectures. In 2020, he received the Global Arbitration Review Award for Best Public Lecture for his Roebuck Arbitration Lecture on “The Policy Favouring Arbitration Under English Law”.

He is currently leading two thought-leadership initiatives: first, as the Co-convenor of the Institute of Transnational Arbitration Task Force on The Rule of Law in International Investment Law and Arbitration; and second, as the Co-Chair of the EY Arbitration Colloquia on Innovation in International Arbitration.

Brekoulakis has led important policy projects and advised governmental, intergovernmental, and non-governmental organisations:

  • As a Co-Chair of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration Task Force on Third Party Funding, he co-authored the leading report on Third Party Funding in International Arbitration which has informed legislative regulatory policy (Singapore and Hong Kong) and arbitration rules of international institutions (International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes and Vienna International Arbitration Centre);
  • As a member of the London Bar Reform Committee, he has provided consultation to the Law Commission of England and Whales currently reviewing the 1996 Arbitration Act;
  • As a member of the Steering Committee of the UNCITRAL Academic Forum on Investor-State Dispute Settlement, he has informed in the discussions of the UNCITRAL Working Group III currently considering proposals to reform the system of resolving international investment disputes;
  • As a member of the Investment Expert Trade Advisory Group of the UK Department for International Trade (as it was then), Stavros has informed UK’s policy on international investment law and dispute resolution;
  • As an international arbitration expert, Stavros has advised the Greek Law Reform Committee on the amendment of the 2023 Arbitration Act;
  • As a member of the Supervisory Body of the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund, which was founded by the European Commission and the European Central Bank in the wake of the financial crisis, Stavros provides advice to the Greek Ministry of Finance on the proper functioning of Greek Banking system.

Stavros serves in several boards and commissions of leading arbitration institutions including being a member of the:

  • Governing body of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration
  • Court of the London Court of International Arbitration
  • Commission on Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce
  • Academic Council of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration
  • Co-rapporteur of the International Law Association, Committee of International Commercial Arbitration

He is the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Arbitration, Mediation and Dispute Management; the General Editor of the Journal of International Dispute Settlement; the Co-editor of Kluwer’s International Arbitration Law Library Series; a member of the Editorial Board of the Arbitration International; the International Chamber of Commerce Bulletin on International Arbitration; and the Arab Yearbook of Public & Private International Law.

He has been a visiting professor at the Vienna University, Geneva University and Graduate Institute of Geneva, New York University (NYU), National University of Singapore and Athens University.

Stavros has strong experience in senior administrative positions in academia being the Director of Graduate Studies and the Director of Research of QMUL’s School of Law for several years, leading the School’s Research Excellence Framework (REF) submission in 2021.

Stavros is a member of the leading commercial Chambers of 3 Verulam Buildings (Gray’s Inn) where he practices as arbitrator in international commercial and investment arbitrations.

Edited Books

Journal Articles
Stavros Brekoulakis and Anna Howard, 'Impartiality and the Construction of Trust in Investor-State Dispute Settlement' (2023) 38 (3) ICSID Review - Foreign Investment Law Journal 644

Rachel Cahill-O’Callaghan, Anna Howard and Stavros Brekoulakis, 'Influence in Investor-State Dispute Settlement: a Dynamic Concept' (2023) 14 (1) Journal of International Dispute Settlement 24

Stavros Brekoulakis and Anna Howard, “Contextual Impartiality: A New Approach to Assessing Impartiality in Investor State Dispute Settlement” (forthcoming ICSID Review – Foreign Investment Law Journal).

Stavros Brekoulakis, “The Evolution of Public Policy and Judicial Function in English Law” (2019) 10(3) Journal of International Dispute Settlement 472-495

Stavros Brekoulakis, “The Historical Treatment of Arbitration under English Law and the Development of the Policy Favouring Arbitration” (2019) 38(1) Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 1-28.

Stavros Brekoulakis, “Rethinking Consent in International Commercial Arbitration: A General Theory on Non-Signatories” (2018) 8(1) Journal of International Dispute Settlement 1-34.

Stavros Brekoulakis, “Public-Private Arbitration and the Public Interest under English Arbitration Law” (2017) 80(1) Modern Law Review 22-56.


  • Legal Policies, Public Policy and the protection of the Public Interest in the law of Arbitration
  • Consent, Third Parties and Non-Signatories in International Arbitration
  • Ethics and Regulation of Third-Party Funding in International Arbitration
  • Decision Making and Doctrine of Impartiality in Investor State Dispute Settlement
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