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Copyright © International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). All rights reserved. ( Source of the document: ICC Digital Library )
New composition of Court
On 1 July 2009, the International Court of Arbitration began a new three-year term and welcomed 53 new members, including 12 new vice-chairs. The appointments were made by the ICC World Council at its June 2009 meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
The new vice-chairs are Mohammed Chemloul (Algeria), Teresa Yeuk Wah Cheng (China), Vladimir V. Khvalei (Russia), Laurent Lévy (Switzerland/Brazil), Loretta Malintoppi (Italy), Salim Moollan (France/Mauritius), Alexis Mourre (France), Ciccu Mukhopadhaya (India), Karyl Nairn (Australia), Jan Paulsson (France/Sweden), Klaus Sachs (Germany) and Vera van Houtte (Belgium). They join Alan Redfern (United Kingdom), Carl F. Salans (USA) and Claus von Wobeser (Mexico), whose terms were renewed. Commenting on the appointments, John Beechey, Chairman of the Court, remarked: 'The appointments of the new vice-chairs in particular reflect the global reach of ICC arbitration, the diversity of its users and the continuing ability of the ICC Court to attract both well-known names and rising stars to join it.'
The newly-composed Court has 109 additional members, of whom 25 are alternate members and 41 first-time appointments. They include attorneys, arbitrators, judges, corporate counsel and university professors, whose skills and experience have won them wide recognition in the world of international arbitration. With a total membership of 125, the Court now spans 86 different countries.
Secretariat appointments
Nadia Darwazeh comes to ICC with over ten years' experience of private practice. A German and Dutch citizen, she began her career in Europe, where she worked with leading international law firms in Frankfurt, London and Paris. For the last three years, she has been practising international arbitration and cross-border litigation in Shanghai. Having acted as counsel in numerous ICC and non-ICC cases, Ms Darwazeh has an understanding of party needs as well as experience of a highly diverse caseload covering construction and industrial disputes, general commercial matters and corporate finance in multiple jurisdictions. Ms Darwazeh received her legal education in England and has been admitted to practise in England and Wales as Solicitor Advocate and in Germany as Rechtsanwältin. Her bibliography includes literature on arbitration in China, India and the Arab world. She is fluent in English, French and German and also speaks Dutch and Mandarin. Ms Darwazeh heads the case management team focusing on Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Matthias Kuscher has been appointed as Counsel after two years as Deputy Counsel in the case management team handling arbitrations linked to North America. He now heads the team dealing principally with arbitrations linked to the United Kingdom and [Page18:] the Commonwealth. Mr Kuscher holds British and German nationality and was educated at the Universities of Cambridge (BA, MA) and Oxford (BCL) in the United Kingdom and the University of Heidelberg (LLM) in Germany. He was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2006. Prior to joining the Secretariat, Mr Kuscher taught law in the United Kingdom and Germany, most recently at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and was involved as coach and judge in several moot competitions, including the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot. He speaks English, German and French.
Francesca Mazza has succeeded Lara Hammoud as Secretary to the ICC Commission on Arbitration, alongside her position as Counsel. An Italian national, Ms Mazza studied in Italy (Milan), United Kingdom (Cambridge) and Germany (Heidelberg), where she also obtained her doctorate, and is admitted to practise in Germany. Before joining ICC some six years ago, Ms Mazza worked in Germany, in both private practice and the judiciary. She is fluent in English, French, German and Italian.
A trained mediator and lawyer, Ms Tümpel joined ICC in 2007. For the last two years, she has held the position of Deputy Counsel at the Secretariat of the International Court of Arbitration. A German national, Ms Tümpel studied law at the Universities of Passau and Berlin in Germany, Siena in Italy and Lisbon in Portugal, after which she obtained a master's degree in mediation from the University of Frankfurt/Oder in Germany. She has been admitted to the Bar in Germany. Prior to joining ICC, she worked for the German Federal Foreign Office in Berlin and Brussels. Ms Tümpel speaks German, English, French and Italian. She replaces Mélanie Meilhac.
Stephanie Goubelle comes to ICC Dispute Resolution Services from ICC Events, where she was project coordinator for eight years. A French and British citizen, Ms Goubelle graduated from Toulouse University Law School in France and also holds an LLM in Business Law from Wolverhampton University in the United Kingdom. She speaks English, French and German. In her new position, her role will be to enhance the visibility of ICC Dispute Resolution Services, and coordinate and develop ICC's involvement in a wide range of dispute resolution events and activities around the world.
John Rushton has taken over from John Merrett as ICC's arbitration and ADR consultant in the United Kingdom. A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Mr Rushton has won wide recognition as a construction specialist-a field where ICC arbitration has a strong presence. He is also an accredited mediator and adjudicator. Mr Rushton graduated in law from the University of Cambridge and then pursued a career with leading law firms in London. Mr Rushton's new role as ICC UK consultant will be twofold: to liaise between ICC's national committee in the United Kingdom and the Secretariat [Page19:] of the Court for the purpose of appointing arbitrators, mediators and experts in ICC proceedings, and to promote ICC Dispute Resolution Services locally. As such he forms part of ICC's worldwide network of regional representatives essential to the Court's outreach.
Mr Rushton's contact details are as follows:
Email: JohnRushton@iccorg.co.uk
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 8508 4947
Doors open for 2010 mediation competition
On 15 September 2009, ICC began accepting applications for its 5th International Commercial Mediation Competition, to take place in Paris on 6-10 February 2010.
The 2010 competition is expected to attract entries from some 50 law schools around the world and mobilize over 85 experts as volunteer mediators and judges. Competitors assume the roles of counsel and client and are required to apply ICC's ADR Rules to solve problems set by a panel of international mediation specialists. The competition is widely acknowledged to offer students a unique opportunity to learn and practise cross-cultural dispute resolution skills that will be valuable to them throughout their careers. In addition, it allows participants to share best practices and network in a truly multicultural setting.
Further details about the competition and how to apply can be found at <www.iccadr.org>.
Court makes changes to its handling of tribunal expenses
ICC has modified its practice with respect to the payment of arbitrators' expenses, in order to simplify the handling of these payments and bring them into line with current trends. The principal substantive changes are as follows:
- A new per diem payment of US$ 800 will be paid to arbitrators for each night they are required to spend away from home on arbitration business. Where no overnight stay is required, a new per diem rate of US$ 300 will apply. Formerly, these rates were respectively US$ 500 and US$ 250. Arbitrators will no longer be given the option of claiming actual expenses.
- First class flights will no longer be reimbursed, in recognition of the fact that lawyers and company representatives generally travel in business class.
- General office overheads will not be reimbursed, as is now general practice in law firms. However, courier, photocopying, fax and telephone charges incurred for an ICC arbitration can be reimbursed at cost, provided supporting receipts are supplied.
These changes are contained in a new edition of the Secretariat Note on Personal and Arbitral Tribunal Expenses (see below), which was originally issued in 1995 and last updated in 2005. Secretariat notes, issued pursuant to Article 5(2) of the Court's Internal Rules (Appendix II to the ICC Rules of Arbitration), are complementary to the Rules and clarify the Court's practices in relation to specific aspects of ICC arbitration procedure. [Page20:]
NOTE ON PERSONAL AND ARBITRAL TRIBUNAL EXPENSES
1 September 2009
(This Note replaces the previous Note dated 1 January 2005.)
Expenses of arbitrators and arbitral tribunals which are incurred on or after 1 September 2009 will be reimbursed by the Secretariat of the ICC International Court of Arbitration in accordance with this Note.
1. The Secretariat will reimburse expenses and pay per diem allowances only upon receipt of a request in a readily comprehensible form including a cover page listing each payment claimed and the reason for it. Expense reimbursement claims must be supported by an original receipt. This is necessary so that the Secretariat can carry out its accounting responsibilities and, from time to time, provide the parties with comprehensive statements of expenses incurred by arbitrators.
2. Arbitrators should submit their requests for the reimbursement of expenses and/or the payment of per diem allowances, together with any required supporting documentation as specified below, as soon as possible after expenses are incurred. This will help ensure that the advance on costs paid by the parties is adequate to cover the costs of the arbitration.
3. All requests for the reimbursement of expenses and/or the payment of per diem allowances relating to any period prior to the submission of the draft final award must be provided at the latest when the draft final award is submitted to the Secretariat. When there is a three-member arbitral tribunal, the co-arbitrators and the chairman should co-ordinate their submission of requests for the reimbursement of expenses and/or the payment of per diem allowances in order to ensure that they reach the Secretariat no later than the draft final award. Requests for the reimbursement of expenses and/or the payment of per diem allowances submitted after the Court has approved the final award will not be taken into account by the Court when fixing the costs of the arbitration and will not be paid save in exceptional circumstances as decided by the Secretary General.
4. If an arbitration terminates before the rendering of a final award, all requests for the reimbursement of expenses and/or the payment of per diem allowances must be submitted within the time limit granted by the Secretariat. Requests for the reimbursement of expenses and/or the payment of per diem allowances submitted after the date the Court fixes the costs of arbitration will not be taken into account by the Court and will not be paid.
5. If required to travel for the purpose of an ICC arbitration, an arbitrator will be reimbursed for the actual travel expenses he or she incurs travelling from and returning to his or her usual place of business as indicated on the curriculum vitae filed for the relevant ICC arbitration. Travel expenses will be reimbursed in accordance with paragraphs 6 to 8.
6. A request for reimbursement of travel expenses must be accompanied by the originals of all receipts claimed or other proper substantiation if receipts are unavailable. Travel expenses that are not fully and comprehensively justified will not be reimbursed.
7. The reimbursement of travel expenses is subject to the following strict limits: [Page21:]
(a) Air travel: an airfare equivalent to the applicable standard business class airfare.
(b) Rail travel: the applicable first class train fare.
(c) Transport to and from airport(s) and/or train station(s): the applicable standard taxi fare.
(d) Travel by private car: a flat rate for every kilometre driven, plus all necessary actual parking and toll charges incurred. The flat rate is US$ 0.80 per kilometre.
8. Except for expenses claimed pursuant to paragraph 7(d) above, travel expenses will, where possible, be reimbursed in the same currency in which they were incurred. An arbitrator may alternatively request reimbursement in US dollars provided that the request is accompanied by a statement of the US dollar amount and evidence of the exchange rate (for example, a print out from <www.oanda.com>). The date for the currency conversion should be the date the expense was incurred.
9. In addition to travel expenses, an arbitrator will be paid a flat-rate per diem allowance in accordance with paragraphs 10 to 14 for every day of an ICC arbitration that he or she is required to spend outside his or her usual place of business as indicated on the curriculum vitae filed for the relevant ICC arbitration. The arbitrator is not required to submit receipts in order to claim the per diem allowance, but simply evidence of the travel for purposes of the arbitration.
10. If the arbitrator is not required to use overnight hotel accommodation, the flat-rate per diem allowance is US$ 300.
11. If the arbitrator is required to use overnight hotel accommodation, the flat-rate per diem allowance is US$ 800.
12. The applicable per diem allowance is deemed to cover fully all personal living expenses of whatever nature and of whatever actual value (other than travel expenses) incurred by an arbitrator. In particular, the applicable per diem allowance is deemed to cover, among other expenses, the total cost of:
Accommodation (except where paragraph 10 above applies)
Meals
Laundry/ironing/dry cleaning and other housekeeping or similar services
Inner-city transport
Telephone calls, faxes, emails and other means of communication
Gratuities
13. For the avoidance of doubt, no per diem allowance will be paid in respect of time spent by an arbitrator travelling to or from the relevant destination, which might otherwise have given rise to a claim for the payment of a per diem allowance.
14. Since the per diem allowance is deemed to cover all personal living expenses incurred by an arbitrator while outside his or her usual place of business on ICC arbitration business, the Secretariat will not reimburse expenses over and above the applicable per diem allowance under any circumstances.
15. General office expenses and overheads incurred in the ordinary course of business by an arbitrator or an arbitral tribunal in connection with an ICC arbitration will not be reimbursed. However, an arbitrator or an arbitral tribunal may request to be reimbursed at cost for any courier, photocopying, facsimile or telephone charges incurred for the purposes of an ICC arbitration, provided such request is accompanied by detailed receipts. [Page22:]
16. An arbitrator may request an advance payment of travel expenses and/or the applicable per diem allowance in accordance with paragraphs 5 to 14 above. If an advance is granted, the arbitrator must subsequently submit the relevant supporting documentation to the Secretariat, including all receipts and a statement of working days and nights spent outside of his or her usual place of business on ICC arbitration business.