Robert R. Briner was born in Zurich on 18 April 1930. He grew up and was educated in his native town and, in 1957, obtained a doctorate in constitutional law from Zurich University. He was admitted to the Zurich Bar in 1959. After spending his first year as a qualified lawyer in an accounting firm, Robert decided to leave Switzerland and worked as a foreign associate with Gide Loyrette in Paris. At the same time as he pursued his legal career, Robert was also involved in the Swiss Army, and this experience, lasting some four years in all, has been an important shaping influence.

In 1961, Robert returned to Switzerland, where he joined the firm founded by Raoul Lenz in Geneva that was soon to become known as Lenz, Schluep, Briner, de Coulon & Associés. There he developed his own practice, which was initially based on tax and corporate law. It was in the nineteen seventies that arbitration emerged as an increasingly prominent area of activity for both Robert and his partner Philippe de Coulon. The merger in 1991 between Lenz, Schluep, Briner, de Coulon & Associés and the Zurich firm Staehelin, Hafter, Jagmetti, Lutz & Partners owes much to Robert's vision and sense of strategy in the face of the gradual development of a single national market for legal services in Switzerland.

In 1985, Robert was appointed to chair Chamber Two of the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal in The Hague, and was President of the Tribunal from 1989 to 1991. It was in this context, marked by a large volume of cases and an atmosphere in which the parties were often unable or disinclined to enter into procedural arrangements, that Robert and his colleagues found a fertile ground to practise what has since become known as case management. The decisions reached in the cases referred to the Tribunal have been published in the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal Reports, which has led to those issued under Robert's chairmanship or presidency being recognized internationally and used both for the purpose of arbitral procedure and to deal with substantive issues such as State responsibility, the interrelation between private and public international law, force majeure and the awarding of interest in arbitration.

In 1997, Robert was appointed Chairman of one of the panels of Commissioners established by the United Nations Compensation Commission. He has also been a member of the Claims Resolution Tribunal for Dormant Accounts in Switzerland. [Page6:]

It was also in 1997 that Robert became Chairman of the ICC International Court of Arbitration. A year after his appointment, the 1998 ICC Rules of Arbitration were launched and Robert took advantage of the impetus generated by this revision to extend and increase knowledge of ICC arbitration and the representation of the ICC Court throughout the world. Robert brought to the work of the Court a practical perspective acquired from his long and rich experience as arbitrator and counsel. His strong leadership skills, his innate sense of fairness, together with open-mindedness and a truly international view of the world, enabled him to preside with great skill over Court sessions where difficult, sensitive decisions often had to be taken. Robert's demanding, yet very human qualities made him much respected and highly appreciated by the members of the Secretariat of the Court, who have enjoyed the benefit of his knowledge and unfailing support.

The professional associations of which Robert is a member are too numerous to list in full. They include the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA), the International Council of Arbitration for Sport (ICAS), and the Executive Committee of the Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA). He has also taken a keen interest in the activities of the International Bar Association (IBA), where he chaired the Section on Business Law from 1992 to 1994.

Those who know Robert well will agree that, in addition to being a brilliant jurist with a command of many languages, he owes his undoubted success to his particular personal qualities. In his work, he is extremely well organized, always focusing on the most relevant issues and coming to the point in his conclusions without delay. In his relations with colleagues and staff, he has the ability to listen and keep a low profile, while nevertheless being ready to take the lead and bring discussions to a timely conclusion through appropriate decisions.

Finally, his friends know that the permanent support of his wife Frances has carried him through his vast work and travel schedules. We all cherish Robert's sense of humour and loyalty and present this book to one of the true gentlemen of international dispute resolution.

Gerald Aksen

Karl-Heinz Böckstiegel

Michael J. Mustill

Paolo Michele Patocchi

Anne Marie Whitesell

Editors