First time tie for ICC Institute of World Business Law Prize

The judging panel, made up of eight ICC Institute Council members, decided to split the €10,000 Prize between Ms Moeckesch and Ms Pellegrini, who each receive €5,000.

The winning works were selected out of 17 theses submitted by applicants from 11 countries.

Commenting on this year’s split Prize, Chairman of the Institute Yves Derains said:  “We are delighted to see more and more researchers submitting their work for the award and this is reflected in this year’s sharing of the Prize between two excellent theses. The Institute is determined to recognize legal writing excellence and reward young scholars who choose the field of international commercial law.”

The ICC Institute Prize is a biennial award of €10,000 designed to recognize excellent legal writing in the field of international commercial law, including arbitration. It aims to contribute towards the understanding and progress of international commercial law around the world and to encourage those engaged in focused research on legal issues affecting international business.

Entries for this year’s edition included topics as varied as international investment arbitration, international law in foreign investment, functions of arbitral institutions and state responsibility for breaches of investment contracts.

The Institute is determined to recognize legal writing excellence and reward young scholars who choose the field of international commercial law.

An award ceremony took place on the occasion of the 35th Annual Meeting of the ICC Institute of World Business Law. Receiving her award Annabelle Moeckesch a student at Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg (Germany) said: “It is a great honour to be receiving the ICC Institute of World Business Law Prize. This really makes all the hard work that went into writing the thesis worthwhile, including all the ups and downs that come along with such a long term project. So I am very happy about the award”.

Chair of the Jury, Ercument Erdem, added: “Ms Moeckesch’s subject matter is of high practical interest and extremely relevant for the daily practice of arbitral tribunals. The value of the work is especially enhanced by the interviews she conducted with many arbitrators and counsel to understand different approaches in practice.”

Cecile Pellegrini of the University of Lyon 3 (France), said: “Having won the prize of the 2015 International Chambers of Commerce is an immense honour. It will allow me, I hope, to have my work be made known and then maybe assure the promotion of voluntary dépeçage technique in international contracts. It must be better known by academics and practitioners”.

Commenting on Ms Pellegrini’s work, Mr Erdem said: “The research is conducted in depth with an appropriate comparative approach, covering the laws of several countries, arbitral jurisprudence and works on comparative law, and thus allows the author to demonstrate coherence in her analytical capacities. This thesis brings a new voice to old problems and contributes to redefining them.”

The 2015 ICC Institute Prize is supported by Lazareff Le Bars – a boutique law firm dedicated to international arbitration, commercial litigation and legal advice in Africa – and Dentons –  a global law firm whose aim is to provide a competitive edge in an increasingly complex and interconnected marketplace.

The ICC Institute Prize is open to anyone aged 40 or under. Researchers are invited to submit doctoral dissertations or long essays drafted in French or English. The next edition will take place in 2017.