New Chairman of the International Court of Arbitration

On 1 March 2006, Professor Pierre Tercier succeeded Dr Robert Briner as Chairman of the International Court of Arbitration. Professor Tercier was elected to this position by the ICC World Council at its meeting in Durban, South Africa, in June 2005.

Professor Tercier studied law at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland, where he obtained his doctorate in 1969. After qualifying as a practising lawyer in Switzerland, he continued his studies in Geneva, Hamburg (Max-Planck Institute) and Cambridge (Wolfson College). In 1973, he was appointed Professor of Law at the University of Fribourg, where he continued to teach until reducing his commitment earlier this year. During the same period, he was also resident or regularly gave lectures at other institutions, including Columbia University in New York, the Universities of Paris I, Paris II (business law), Turin (international trade law), Geneva (commercial law), and the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale in Lausanne. Professor Tercier has published some twenty books and over a hundred articles. In 2003, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Paris II University. Professor Tercier has also held a number of other related positions, including Chairman of the committee for the reform of the Swiss law of persons, and member, then Chairman of the Swiss Antitrust Commission. Professor Tercier has more than thirty years' experience of international and domestic arbitrations and other dispute resolution proceedings. He has acted in over a hundred cases, in all capacities (sole arbitrator, co-arbitrator, tribunal chairman, mediator, Dispute Board chairman) and under various sets of rules (ICC, LCIA, ICSID, UNCITRAL, ad hoc).

ICC launches mediation competition

Some eighty law students and dispute resolution professionals from twelve different countries gathered at the ICC International Secretariat in Paris in January 2006 for the first ever ICC International Commercial Mediation Competition. Organized by ICC with the cooperation of the Dispute Resolution Section of the American Bar Association, the competition was the first of what will be an annual event designed to test students' problem-solving skills in a mock international mediation conducted under the ICC ADR Rules.

The thirteen teams who took part in the inaugural competition came from law schools in Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. Each team was represented by two students, who were required to act as lawyer and client before a professional mediator. Their performance was judged by three professional lawyers experienced in international negotiation and mediation.

The winning trophy in the 2006 competition went to a team from the University of Houston Law Center in the United States, comprising Jim Lawrence and Katherine Sands, accompanied by their coach Jeff Abrams.

Preparation has already begun for next year's competition, which will take place in Paris on 16-19 February 2007. The competition will again be open to full and part-time law students, excluding those who are already licensed to practice law. The 2007 competition will be limited to a maximum of twenty teams.

For more information

US and Canadian schools should contact Nancy M. Thevenin at nthevenin@uscib.org

All other schools should contact the Competition's Organizing Committee at iccmediationcompetition@iccwbo.org

Secretariat appointment

Jan Heiner Nedden has been appointed Counsel in charge of one of the Secretariat's seven case-management teams. He has for the last two years occupied the position of Assistant Counsel in the same team.

Mr Nedden is a German citizen. He began his law studies at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, from where he went on to the Ottawa Law School in Canada, before returning to Europe to specialize in international and commercial law at the University of Freiburg. Subsequently, he obtained a master's degree in commercial mediation from the University of Hagen in Germany and, after traineeships in Düsseldorf, Paris and Brussels, was admitted to the Bar in Germany. Prior to joining ICC, Mr Nedden worked for a large German consultancy firm and in the European Union liaison office of a pharmaceutical corporation in Brussels. He speaks German, English and French.

Composition of the International Court of Arbitration

On 1 January 2006, the members of the International Court of Arbitration appointed by the ICC World Council at its 190th session in Paris on 2 December 2005 commenced their three-year term of office, which will expire on 31 December 2008.1 Five further members were appointed by the ICC World Council at its 191st session in Paris on 16 June 2006, bringing the total number of members to 125, from 88 countries. The current composition of the Court is shown below.

Chairman

Pierre Tercier (Switzerland)

Vice-Chairmen

Jean-Paul Béraudo (France)

Francis P. Donovan (Australia)

Ahmed S. El-Kosheri (Egypt)

Michael Hwang (Singapore)

Alan Redfern (United Kingdom)

Hellwig Torggler (Austria)

Carl F. Salans (United States)

Toshio Sawada (Japan)

Claus von Wobeser (Mexico)

Members and alternate members

Algeria

Omar Khelifa

Alternate: Mehdi Haroun

Argentina

Sergio Le Pera Alternate: Ernesto O'Farrell

Australia

Karyl Nairn

Alternate: Michael Polkinghorne

Austria

Christoph Liebscher

Alternate: Christian Dorda

Bahrain

Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa

Alternate: Rashid A. R. Ebrahim

Bangladesh

Ajmalul Hossain

Belgium

Pierre Gabriel

Brazil

Arnoldo Wald

Alternate: Carlos M. Mafra de Laet

Burkina Faso

Assane Souleymane Ouedraogo

Cameroon

Mary-Concilia Anchang

Canada

Thomas Webster

Chile

Carlos Eugenio Jorquiera Malschafsky

China

Jingzhou Tao

Chinese Taipei

Nien-Tsu Li

Colombia

Fernando Mantilla-Serrano

Costa Rica

Luis A. Guillén Downing

Croatia

Kresimir Sajko

Cuba

Olga Maria Miranda Bravo

Cyprus

Antis A. Triantafyllides

Czech Republic

Jana Doskova

Denmark

Georg Lett

Dominican Republic

Fabiola Medina

Ecuador

César Coronel Jones

Egypt

Yehia El Gamal

Alternate: Mustafa Mohamed El Bahabety

El Salvador

Ernesto Lima Mena

Finland

Gustaf Möller

France

Philippe Boivin

Alternate: Emmanuel Vuillard

Georgia

Irakli Mgaloblishvilii

Germany

Michael Bühler

Alternate: Fabian von Schlabrendorff

Ghana

Samuel K. B. Asante

Alternate: Kofi Kumado

Greece

Anna Mantakou

Guatemala

Alvaro Rodrigo Castellanos Howell

Hungary

Iván Szász

Iceland

Baldvin Björn Haraldsson

India

Dharmasinh Morarji Popat

Alternate: Jagdeep Dhankhar

Indonesia

Frans Hendra Winarta

Iran

Mohsen Mohebi

Alternate: Mohammad Hossein Tamaddon

Ireland

Michael W. Carrigan

Alternate: James Connolly

Israel

Mayer Gabay

Italy

Gabriele Crespi Reghizzi

Alternate: Loretta Malintoppi

Japan

Hiroshi Oda

Jordan

Rajai K.W. Dajani

Korea

Jay Ki Lee

Kuwait

Youssef Mohamad Al-Ali

Lebanon

Roger Georges Assi

Lithuania

Valija Vaitkuté Pavan

Luxembourg

Jean Meyer

Madagascar

Henry Rabary-Njaka

Alternate: Raymond Ranjeva

Malaysia

Chong Wah Wong

Mexico

Fernando Estavillo Castro

Monaco

Géraldine Gazo

Morocco

Driss Bouziane

Alternate: Abdelfattah Bensouda

Nepal

Gandhi Pandit

Netherlands

Marnix A. Leijten

New Zealand

Jason A. Fry

Alternate: Campbell Alan McLachlan

Nigeria

Gabriel Adesiyan Olawoyin

Alternate: Dorothy Udeme Ufot

Norway

Nina Wang

Pakistan

Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada

Alternate: Mahomed J. Jaffer

Panama

Tomas H. Herrera Diaz

Philippines

Florentino P. Feliciano

Poland

Piotr Nowaczyk

Portugal

Miguel Galvão Teles

Qatar

Remy Rowhani

Romania

Adrian Severin

Russian Federation

Nina Grigorievna Vilkova

Saudia Arabia

Bandar Salman Al-Saud

Alternate: Mohammad Alghamdi

Senegal

Babacar Diouf

Alternate: Rasseck Bourgi

Serbia & Montenegro

Gaso Knezevic

Singapore

Chelva Rajah

Slovakia

Pavol Erben

Slovenia

Ales Galic

South Africa

Michael Katz

Spain

María Mercedes Tarrazón Rodón

Sri Lanka

Casipillai Chakradaran

Alternate: Christopher Walter Pinto

Sweden

Claes Lundblad

Switzerland

Pierre A. Karrer

Alternate: Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler

Syria

Nabil N. Antaki

Tanzania

Colman Mark Ngalo

Thailand

Chaiyasuta Siriporn

Alternate: Jayavadh Bunnag

Togo

Dabré Gbandjaba

Tunisia

Rachid Sabbagh

Turkey

Ziya Akinci

Ukraine

Serhii Sviriba

United Arab Emirates

Essam Al Tamimi

United Kingdom

Julian Lew

Alternate: Andrew Foyle

United States of America

Robert H. Smit

Alternates: Eric Schwartz

Christopher R. Seppälä

Uruguay

Paul Fabien Arrighi Bustamante

Venezuela

James Otis Rodner

1

Appointments are made pursuant to Article 3 of the Statutes of the Court (Appendix I to the ICC Rules of Arbitration), which reads as follows:

'a. The Chairman is elected by the ICC World Council upon the recommendation of the Executive Board of the ICC. b. The ICC World Council appoints the Vice-Chairmen of the Court from among the members of the Court or otherwise. c. Its members are appointed by the ICC World Council on the proposal of National Committees, one member for each Committee. d. On the proposal of the Chairman of the Court, the World Council may appoint alternate members. e. The term of office of all members is three years. If a member is no longer in a position to exercise his functions, his successor is appointed by the World Council for the remainder of the term.'