Four new members for ICC Court

At the 186th session of the ICC World Council, which took place in Paris on 5 December 2003, four new members were appointed to the ICC International Court of Arbitration for the remainder of the current term, which runs until 31 December 2005.1

For Croatia, Professor Petar Šarcevic was appointed Member, following the establishment of the national committee, ICC Croatia, in 2003.

For Greece, Dr Anna P. Mantakou was appointed Member following the death of the former Member, Dr George Verveniotis.

For Luxembourg, Mr Paul Ehmann was appointed Member, following the death of the former Member, Dr Pierre Seimetz.

For the United States of America, Mr Christopher R. Seppälä was appointed Alternate Member.

Secretariat staff change

Katherine González Arrocha, hitherto Counsel in charge of one of the Court Secretariat's seven case-management teams, has been appointed Senior Counsel for ICC dispute resolution services. In this capacity she will head the ICC ADR Secretariat and the ICC International Centre for Expertise 2 and act as Secretary to the ICC Commission on Arbitration.

Ms González Arrocha, who holds Panamanian and French citizenship, began her legal career in Panama, where she worked for two firms of lawyers in Panama City. She was subsequently involved in the creation and development of the Arbitration Centre of the Panamanian Chamber of Commerce. In 1996, she joined the Secretariat of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, where, in 1999, she was appointed Counsel, managing cases mainly from Latin America and the Iberian peninsula.

Ms González Arrocha holds a law degree from the University of Santa María La Antigua in Panama and a postgraduate degree specializing in arbitration from the University of Paris II (Panthéon-Assas). She speaks Spanish, English and French.

Regional outreach: Latin America

As a globally based dispute resolution service, ICC arbitration is available to parties wherever they are situated. Although cases are administered from France, the proceedings may be conducted in whatever location the parties choose, no matter how distant from the Secretariat's offices in Paris. The ICC International Court of Arbitration, which each year engages in an ambitious programme of outreach activities across the world, has undertaken to increase its presence at local level by strengthening its regional representation. To complement the Court's already well-established presence in North America, under the directorship of Lorraine Brennan, the ICC Court has created a new post for Latin America, which will be occupied by Dyalá Jiménez Figueres.

Ms Jiménez Figueres will be already known to many from her days first as Assistant Counsel within the Secretariat of the International Court of Arbitration and then as Special Counsel for ICC ADR and expertise. A citizen of Costa Rica, Ms Jiménez Figueres completed her undergraduate legal studies in her native country, where she joined the Bar and subsequently worked in the office of the first Vice-President of the Republic, assisting in the promotion of legislation and projects relating to alternative dispute resolution. She continued her legal training at Georgetown University, USA, where she obtained a Master of Laws in common law studies. Ms Jiménez Figueres joined ICC in 2000 and will build on her practical experience at the International Secretariat in her new role as regional representative for ICC dispute resolution services in Latin America.

The ICC Court's outreach in Latin America is reflected in an increasing number of seminars and conferences. In October 2003, the Court premiered its annual Miami conference,3 which offers an ICC perspective on international commercial arbitration in Latin America. The 2003 event attracted 220 participants from all Latin American countries as well as the USA. Discussions focussed on various aspects of ICC arbitration and on matters that raise specific issues in the context of Latin America, such as public policy, state contracts and enforcement of awards. In February 2004, the ICC Court was represented at the IBA Arbitration Day in São Paulo, where Eduardo Silva Romero and Katherine González Arrocha, respectively Deputy Secretary General and Counsel at the Secretariat of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, were invited speakers. Representatives of the ICC Court will return to Brazil next September for a special conference in Curitiba 4 devoted to key questions facing international commercial arbitration in Latin America today.

To increase the accessibility of ICC arbitration to a Spanish-speaking public, ICC extended the scope of its PIDA seminars 5 by offering a first-ever seminar in Spanish in October 2003. Some 50 participants from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Spain and Venezuela attended the event. Through specially designed case studies, they were able to discuss typical situations arising in a Latin American context, under the guidance of arbitration specialists with particular experience of the region.6 The event proved to be so well appreciated that a similar seminar in April 2004 is already fully booked.

1
The appointment of the Court's members is made pursuant to Article 3 of its statutes, which form Appendix I to the ICC Rules of Arbitration. According to Article 3(3), members are appointed by the ICC World Council on the proposal of ICC national committees, one member for each committee. According to Article 3(4), the ICC World Council may appoint alternate members on the proposal of the Chairman of the ICC Court.

2
Replacing Dyalá Jiménez Figueres, see below.

3
The 2004 conference will take place on 7-9 November; see pp. 79-80, below.

4
See pp. 79-80, below.

5
These seminars, organized by the ICC Institute of World Business Law, provide practically-orientated, interactive training in various areas of international trade, including arbitration. The seminars are traditionally held in English and French.

6
The speakers and session leaders included Bernardo Cremades, Yves Derains, Horacio Grigera Naón, Fernando Mantilla Serrano, José Rosell, Erik Schäfer, plus Katherine González Arrocha and Eduardo Silva Romero from the Secretariat of the ICC Court and Diana Droulers from ICC Venezuela.