Diversity in International Arbitration: Why it Matters and How to Sustain It

After decades of focus on harmonization, which for too many represents no more than Western legal dominance and a largely homogeneous arbitration practitioner community, this ground-breaking book explores the increasing attention being paid to the need for greater diversity in the international arbitration ecosystem. It examines diversity in all its forms, investigating how best to develop an international arbitral order that is not just tolerant of diversity, but that sustains and promotes diversity in concert with harmonized practices. Offering a wide range of viewpoints from a diverse and inclusive group of authors, Diversity in International Arbitration is a comprehensive and insightful resource on a controversial, fast-moving subject. Chapters present arguments from practitioner, academic, institutional and governmental perspectives that identify the underlying issues and address the various ways in which the goal of diversity, whether demographic, legal, cultural, professional, linguistic, or philosophical, can be reached. This book’s analysis of the contemporary state of diversity in international arbitration will be a crucial read for researchers in the field. Practitioners and policy makers will also find its discussion of best practices and innovative initiatives for enhancing diversity to be invaluable.

Table of Contents:
Contents: PART I THEORETICAL INTRODUCTION 1 Introduction: reaching sustainable diversity in international arbitration 2 Giorgio Fabio Colombo, Shahla F. Ali, Filip Balcerzak, Joshua Karton 2 Diversity in four dimensions 6 Joshua Karton 3 Fluidity of culture: convergence and informed divergence in cross-border arbitration 21 Shahla F. Ali PART II DIVERSITY IN THE ARBITRAL COMMUNITY 4 Diversity in investment arbitration: balancing individual and community legitimacy 33 Fernando Dias Simões 5 Gender, race, or both? The need for greater consideration of intersectionality in international arbitration 48 Kabir A.N. Duggal and Rekha Rangachari 6 Diversifying the dominant demographics in international arbitration – the how, the why and the (maybe) solution 66 D’Andra A. Johnson and Theominique D. Nottage 7 Sustainable diversity in international arbitration: the case of ad hoc, maritime, and commodities trade arbitration 83 Eva Litina 8 Developing diversity within diversity discourse: remembering non-lawyers in arbitration 101 Luke Nottage, Nobumichi Teramura and James Tanna 9 CETA – where are the women? Diffusing the thought-terminating clichés that impeded diversity 119 Katherine Simpson and Anthony Marcum 10 Boosting diversity in international arbitration: lessons from and for China? 135 Monika Prusinowska 11 Judicial capacity-building and sustainable diversity under the Model Law 150 Anselmo Reyes PART III DIVERSITY IN CULTURES AND STYLES OF ARBITRATION 12 Arbitration and the diversity of constitutional cultures 168 Victor Ferreres Comella 13 Diversity of med-arb in international arbitration 182 Weixia Gu 14 I say discovery, you say disclosure. Evidence in international arbitration 198 Alyssa S. King 15 Linguistic diversity in international investment arbitration 213 Ksenia Polonskaya 16 Challenging the arbitrariness perception of ex aequo et bono to (re-)discover procedural diversity 229 Nobumichi Teramura PART IV “SUSTAINABLE” ARBITRATION – ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES 17 The role of international arbitration in resolving climate change related disputes: selected prospects and issues 243 Konrad J. Czech and Bartosz Soloch 18 Transparency in international arbitration as a catalyst to combat climate change: is it time to embrace democratised access to data in climate change related disputes? 258 Caroline Deves and Piotr Wilinski 19 Arbitration and climate change: sustainable and diverse policy and practice 276 Lucy Greenwood Index 289

About the Author :
Edited by Shahla F. Ali, Professor and Associate Dean (International) and Director, Program in Arbitration and Dispute Resolution, Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Filip Balcerzak, Associate Professor (Research), Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland, Giorgio Fabio Colombo, Full Professor of Comparative Law, Department of Asian and North African Studies, Ca' Foscari University, Italy and Joshua Karton, Full Professor and Associate Dean, Faculty of Law, Queen’s University, Canada

Review :
‘Ali, Balcerzak, Colombo, and Karton have edited a unique tour-de-force of diversity issues ranging from personal identity to legal culture to environmental impact. The editors have compiled an impressive anthology of approaches to fostering diversity from a “who's who” of authors making an impact on the ground already in this space. This is a must-read book for any law firm lawyers, corporate counsel, organizational leaders, arbitration institution administrators, and concerned arbitrators looking for ways to increase the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) savviness of their organizations and independent practices.’ ‘Two generations ago, the international arbitration community comprised an arcane brotherhood – a mafia of the pale, male and stale. “[O]ur own cultures are largely invisible to us; they are simply our “common sense” understandings of the world.” The fascinating chapters in this book lift the veil on unconscious biases, demonstrating how inclusion is crucial to maintaining the legitimacy of arbitration today. I love it!’