"Arbitration's Age of Enlightenment" theme for Edinburgh 2020

“Arbitration’s Age of Enlightenment” will be the theme for the International Council for Commercial Arbitration 2020 congress in Edinburgh, the ICCA announced today.

Its next biennial global congress will be hosted by the Scottish Arbitration Centre at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre between 10 and 13 May 2020. Featuring the presentation and discussion of papers on different aspects of international dispute resolution, the meetings attract a large number of participants from all parts of the world and have made significant contributions to the development of dispute resolution theory and practice.

A 19-strong Congress Programme Committee has representatives from around the world, including Scotland's Lindy Patterson and UK co-chair Constantine Partasides (UK). The programme chairs said: “The Edinburgh Congress will focus on new ideas that can help our process progress even further, including those that come from new voices, that emanate from in-house counsel, or new centres of arbitration activity and even – or especially – from beyond our field.”   

They explained that the theme was chosen to highlight the progress that the practice of international arbitration has made as a whole. “Despite the current gospel of doom, the system of arbitration has experienced extraordinary growth and success over the last 20 years, to emerge today as a major form of international dispute resolution throughout the world. As a consequence of its growth and success, the exchange of new ideas about arbitration’s future is now greater than ever before, and it is coming from a wider variety of stakeholders and interested parties.”

Professor Dr Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler, ICCA President, commented that the congress “will be a time to take stock of achievements and explore ideas to adapt to a fast changing environment, and shape the future of international arbitration, together”.

Brandon Malone, congress chair and chairman of the board of the Scottish Arbitration Centre, added: “We welcome the programme theme and look forward to welcoming the international arbitration community to Edinburgh, the home of the Scottish Enlightenment. With its hybrid common law/civil law tradition and modern arbitration regime, we are sure that the international arbitration community will enjoy the first ICCA Congress to be held in Scotland, and will quickly understand why Edinburgh, Scotland’s ancient capital, was recently voted the most attractive place to live and work in the UK.”

For further details about the congress, for which registration is now open, visit icca2020.scot/