Arbitration

ICC Court launches Belt and Road Initiative Commission

5 March 2018

The International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC Court) has announced the establishment of a commission to address dispute resolution potential in relation to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

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Alexis Mourre, President of the ICC Court announced the establishment of the commission during the ICC Court’s working session last autumn. The commission will drive the development of ICC’s existing dispute resolution procedures and infrastructure to support Belt and Road disputes. Justin D’Agostino, Global Head of Disputes at Herbert Smith Freehills and Hong Kong’s alternate member of the ICC Court, has been named commission chair while Mingchao Fan, ICC Director for North Asia, will act as secretary. Underscoring that ICC’s existing procedures are well-suited to Belt and Road disputes, Mr D’Agostino said:

“There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ method of resolving Belt and Road disputes. But there is a concerted effort to encourage mediation clauses in Belt and Road agreements, with provision for arbitration if mediation fails. ICC is already a world leading provider of arbitration and mediation services, with tried and tested mechanisms and a strong pool of arbitrators and mediators. It is ideally placed to provide appropriate, effective dispute resolution services to parties all along the New Silk Road.”

The Belt and Road Initiative commission has been established to consider how ICC can best respond to dispute resolution opportunities arising from the Belt and Road initiative, which is estimated to have US$900bn in projects planned or already underway.

“ICC is unique among arbitral institutions in that it has truly international coverage, with secretariats and/or national committees in over 100 jurisdictions,” Mr D’Agostino said. “Many of these lie along the Belt and Road route, giving ICC the regional expertise to resolve the disputes that will inevitably arise from a construction and infrastructure initiative of this scale.”

ICC is planning a series of events over the next year to spotlight its Belt and Road capabilities. Events are planned in diverse locations including China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Southeast Asia, Japan and Hong Kong, with more to come.

“We recognise the importance of engaging key stakeholders within both corporates and governments all along the Belt and Road, to ensure that we are offering the best possible service to parties on all sides,” said Mr Mourre. “Our main objective is to ensure that where disputes arise, they are resolved efficiently and with minimal damage to the parties’ commercial relationships. The Belt and Road is a long-term initiative; many of these relationships will last for decades.”

国际商会国际仲裁院成立“一带一路”委员会

国际商会国际仲裁院（国际商会仲裁院）宣布成立一个委员会以应对与中国“一带一路”倡议相关的潜在争端解决问题。国际商会仲裁院主席亚历克西.穆尔在去年秋天举行的国际商会仲裁院工作会议中宣布将成立一个委员会。该委员会将推动国际商会现有争端解决程序和框架的发展以支持“一带一路”争端的解决。史密夫律师事务所全球仲裁管理合伙人贾斯丁.达格斯蒂诺被指定为该委员会主席，国际商会北亚地区主任范铭超将担任秘书长。在强调国际商会现有程序能够有效适用于“一带一路”争议的同时，达格斯蒂诺先生说，

“【世界上】不存在适用于解决“一带一路”争议的单一方法，但在‘一带一路’的合同中【往往】存在共同努力鼓励和推进调解的条款，并在调解失利时提交仲裁。国际商会作为全球领先的仲裁与调解服务的提供者之一，拥有经过测试和验证的机制和强大的仲裁员和调解员储备。因此，这是一个理想的、为在新丝绸之路上的当事人提供合适的、高效的争端解决服务的机构。” “一带一路”委员会的成立是为了考虑如何使国际商会更好地应对‘一带一路’所带来的机遇，在此之中，约有9千亿美元的项目已经开工或者计划开工。 “国际商会是一个独特的仲裁机构，它具有真正覆盖全球的网络，在一百多个法域中设有国家委员会或秘书处。”达格斯蒂诺先生说，“这些国家委员会或秘书处许多都在‘一带一路’沿线，并由此赋予了国际商会以解决在‘一带一路’环境中建筑和基础设施建设项目中不可避免地发生的争议的区域性专业能力。”

国际商会在下一年度将会组织一系列的活动，以聚焦其为“一带一路”提供争端解决服务的能力。相关活动将在一系列国家和地区进行，包括中国、哈萨克斯坦、吉尔吉斯斯坦、尼日利亚、东南亚、菲律宾、日本和香港，更多活动未来将在其他更多地区举行。