Advanced Training Workshop: Corruption and Arbitration

Workshop Details

The number of cases in which parties allege corruption in international arbitration continues to rise with some of these cases involving amounts in hundreds of millions and even billions of US dollars.

Proving corruption in arbitration is complex, and there are often gaps in laws and oversight mechanisms to hold corrupt actors accountable. Allegations or evidence of corruption can lead to prolonged litigation, with parties seeking to annul awards or reopen cases. This defeats the purpose of arbitration, which is meant to be a quicker and more cost-effective alternative to court litigation.

Corruption can lead to unfair decisions, which may undermine the core principle of arbitration, which is to provide a neutral, fair resolution to disputes. Corruption can also complicate the enforcement of arbitral awards across borders, particularly if national courts are involved in recognizing and enforcing decisions. This can create conflicts between national legal systems and international norms.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this workshop, you will be able to

• Understand key approaches to corruption in domestic legal frameworks, including the UK Bribery Act
• Be familiar with international frameworks relevant to corruption, including treaties such as the UN Convention against Corruption
• Be familiar with duties of arbitral tribunals when examining allegations of corruption
• Understand various issues related to proving corruption, including burden and standard of proof and red flags
• Know the peculiarities of corruption allegations in the context of international commercial arbitration, including the consequences of finding corruption
• Be aware of what makes allegations of corruption different in investor-state arbitration, including the consequences of finding corruption.

 
Format

This online workshop will consist of a mixture of short lectures, class discussions and group exercises. The participants will also have an opportunity to work on a fictional case based on real legal issues, which emerged with allegations of corruption in international arbitration. The participants will be equipped with advance relevant readings.

Intended Audience

This workshop is primarily targeted at legal practitioners including in law firms, chambers and in house lawyers, arbitrators involved in investor state and commercial arbitration as well as policy makers and lawyers working for governments and international institutions. An understanding of arbitration and related legal issues will be assumed.

Tutors

Professor Yarik Kryvoi is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Investment Treaty Forum at BIICL. He has recently drafted a report on corruption and investment arbitration commissioned by the United Nations Organisation on Drugs and Crimes and has published on issues of international dispute resolution and corruption. His recent publications include Corruption and Foreign Investments: Empirical Evidence from Treaties and Arbitration Cases, International Journal of Constitutional Law (forthcoming), and Enhancing Anti-Corruption via Investment Arbitration: From Red Flags to Due Diligence (with A Godhe), Journal of International Dispute Settlement (forthcoming). He holds an LLM from Harvard Law School and a PhD from UCL.

Dr Vlad Meerovich is a partner at Peters & Peters in London. A specialist in multi-jurisdictional commercial litigation and international arbitration, Vlad also has experience of acting in cases involving parallel criminal proceedings and investigations by the Serious Fraud Office. He holds an MSc and a PhD in law and economics from the London School of Economics.

Pricing and Registration

The course cost is £200 per person.

This event is available for booking but you must be logged in before you can place a booking.

  
Course Discounts

Member discount: 15% discount for individual members of BIICL
Details of individual memberships at BIICL 

Group discounts:

• 15% discount for groups of 3 or more attendees from Governmental Entities and Non-Governmental Organisations
• 15% discount for groups of 5 or more attendees from commercial organisations

To apply for any of the group discounts please Contact Us.

Training scholarships

The British Institute of International and Comparative Law is committed to equality and opportunity in the legal profession and to support greater engagement of under-represented groups in the legal profession.

In our efforts in this regard we are delighted to offer 3 scholarships for each of our short courses to participants from communities and backgrounds currently under-represented in the legal community.

Applications for training scholarships must be received at least three weeks ahead of the course start date (30 October 2024).

Find out more about training scholarships 

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