New IT facility for ICC arbitration users

The official launch of NetCase took place at the meeting of the ICC Commission on Arbitration on 22 November 2005. This new online service enables the participants in an ICC arbitration to communicate through a secure website hosted by ICC. Parties and arbitrators who choose to use this facility will enjoy round-the-clock access to information regarding their case (e.g. details of the parties and the arbitrators, the procedural calendar and a statement of the current financial situation), an organized system of handling and storing documents, instantaneous communication and forums for private discussions. They will thus be able to conduct their proceedings on-line, twenty-four hours a day, from any location, and will have all relevant information at their fingertips.

Available to ICC arbitration users for no extra charge, NetCase can be used to save time and money, as there will be less need to rely on paper documents and traditional means of communication such as post, fax and courier.

Password protection, sophisticated encryption and anti-virus software have been incorporated in the new service to ensure the confidentiality and security of communications and the material posted on the site.

NetCase is the latest development in the ICC Court's longstanding interest in the use of information technology in international arbitration. The Secretariat of the ICC Court already has a state-of-the-art case management system that allows it to follow the more than 1,000 arbitrations it oversees at any one time. NetCase complements this system and enables parties and arbitrators to enjoy many of its benefits.

For more information on NetCase, contact:

Ms Mirèze Philippe

Special Counsel

Tel: + 33 1 49 53 29 74

Email: support@iccnetcase.org

ICC Court registers its 14,000th case

On 1 September 2005, the total number of requests filed with the ICC Court since its creation in 1923 reached the landmark figure of 14,000. The 14,000th request was filed by an African company against respondents from North America and Asia and concerns a dispute over the sale of a power plant owned by the claimant and partly financed by the respondents. Under the parties' contract, the dispute is to be decided by a tribunal of three arbitrators seated in New York, USA. Apart from epitomizing the international character of ICC arbitration, the case also illustrates the increasing complexity of modern arbitration, as it involves respondents belonging to a group of companies and is the subject of parallel proceedings in State courts.

Regional representation: Middle East and Africa

ICC has appointed Sami Houerbi Director of ICC Dispute Resolution Services for the Middle East and Africa, with effect from 1 September 2005. As the ICC Court's representative in the region, Mr Houerbi will be responsible for increasing awareness of ICC arbitration locally and bringing the expertise and experience of the ICC Court within easier reach of lawyers and businesses in Middle East and African countries.

Prior to taking up his new position, Mr Houerbi was for eight years a member of the Secretariat of the ICC Court in Paris, where, as Assistant Counsel, he was directly involved in the administration of ICC arbitrations. During that period, he also headed the committee responsible for the translation of the 1998 ICC Rules of Arbitration into Arabic and participated in conferences and workshops on international commercial arbitration in the Middle East and Africa.

Mr Houerbi obtained his first degree in law from the University of Paris II, where he went on to obtain a post-graduate degree in international law. He also holds an LLM in German law from the Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich. He is a member of the Tunis Bar and speaks Arabic, French, English and German.

Contact details:

Sami Houerbi Director Middle East and Africa

ICC Dispute Resolution Services P.O. Box 227

cité Mahrajen 1082 Tunis

Tunisia

Tel: +216 71 840 297 Fax: +216 71 286 917 Mobile: +216 20 216 216

E-mail: sh@iccwbo.org

Tribute to outgoing Court Chairman Robert Briner

On 25 November 2005, Robert Briner, outgoing Chairman of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, was presented with a Liber Amicorum in his honour at a ceremony attended by some 250 colleagues and friends. Entitled Global Reflections on International Law, Commerce and Dispute Resolution, the Liber Amicorum is a collection of essays by international experts from more than twenty countries who have known Dr Briner in his various walks of life. Reflecting Dr Briner's own professional activities and interests, the contributions cover a wide range of topics relating chiefly to arbitration law and practice.

The presentation ceremony, held at the Pavillon Gabriel in Paris, was introduced by Guy Sebban, Secretary General of ICC, who outlined Dr Briner's career and spoke of the key role he had played in ICC during his nine years as Chairman of the Court. Anne Marie Whitesell, Secretary General of the Court, spoke more particularly of the changes that had occurred in ICC arbitration under Dr Briner's leadership, including the implementation of the 1998 Rules, the growth in the demand for ICC arbitration and the expansion of the Court and its Secretariat. Karl-Heinz Böckstiegel, who was Dr Briner's predecessor as President of the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal, recalled the skill, equanimity and professionalism with which Dr Briner handled the many challenging cases referred to that Tribunal. Finally, Gerald Aksen and Lord Mustill whetted the audience's appetite for the Liber Amicorum with witty glimpses into its contents.

In his speech of thanks, Dr Briner reflected on the many components that contribute to the success of ICC arbitration: the ICC Court, whose members from all parts of the world give freely of their time to ensure that all legal cultures are heard and respected in ICC arbitration; the Secretariat of the Court, whose staff are the face of ICC arbitration, in constant contact with parties and arbitrators; the ICC Institute of World Business Law, which provides indispensable training for arbitrators and counsel; and the ICC Commission on Arbitration, which is ICC's arbitration think tank and the originator of many new dispute resolution products offered by ICC over the years.

Dr Briner recalled that during his career he had seen arbitration develop from a method of dispute resolution practised by businessmen, in-house legal counsel and a limited number of professors and specialized advocates, to a competitive business involving lawyers, consulting firms, experts, arbitrators and even publishers. Various circumstances had contributed to that growth: the end of decolonisation, the emergence of new international players (especially in Asia), globalization, the fall of the Soviet regime, privatization and the abandonment of old concepts like the Calvo doctrine. Modern legal instruments setting international benchmarks, such as the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration and the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, also had an important part to play. Dr Briner urged that this change should not lead to disenchantment and nostalgia for the so-called good old days: 'today's challenge is to develop ways and means and methods to respond to the change.' He remained confident that ICC, with its International Court of Arbitration, Institute of World Business Law and Commission on Arbitration, would rise to this challenge and continue to be in the forefront of change, as it had been for more than eight decades.

G. Aksen, K.H. Böckstiegel, M.J. Mustill, P.M. Patocchi, A.M. Whitesell, eds.,

Global Reflections on International Law, Commerce and Dispute Resolution

Liber Amicorum in honour of Robert Briner

ICC Publication 693

ISBN 92-842-1354-1

948 pages

Available fromwww.iccbooks.com