20 January 1995, Geneva, Switzerland
On January 20, 1995, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) organized jointly with the Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA) a Conference on Rules for Institutional Arbitration and Mediation, which was held in Geneva at the headquarters of WIPO.
The purpose of the Conference was to examine the approaches and solutions adopted in the Rules of various arbitration institutions, and in the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, to the issues and problems arising in arbitral proceedings. In this context, the WIPO Arbitration Rules, which entered into force on October 1, 1994, were examined and the new features and approaches in those Rules compared with corresponding provisions in the Rules of other arbitration institutions.
Sessions were also devoted to a consideration of the WIPO Expedited Arbitration Rules and the WIPO Mediation Rules and to the advantages, opportunities and limitations of the procedures of expedited or fast-track arbitration and mediation, respectively.
The speakers at the Conference were members of an expert group, convened by WIPO, that met on three occasions in 1994 to review and revise the draft WIPO Arbitration, Expedited and Mediation Rules. The Conference thus provided an opportunity to explain some of the main considerations that lay behind the adoption of particular provisions in those Rules. A number of distinguished experts gave commentaries on the presentations made by the speakers and an opportunity was provided for the participants to join the discussion.
This section contains the texts of the presentations that were made at the Conference, the commentaries given by the panelists and the interventions made during the discussion sessions.
The audience comprised 230 persons from 32 countries.
OPENING ADDRESSES
Arpad Bogsch Director General, WIPO
Marc Blessing Bär & Karrer, Zurich; President, ASA
THE COMMENCEMENT OF ARBITRAL PROCEEDINGS
Francis Gurry, Director, WIPO Arbitration Center
CONSTITUTING THE ARBITRAL TRIBUNAL
Albert Jan van den Berg, Stibbe, Simont, Monahan, Duhot, Amsterdam; Vice-President, Netherlands Arbitration Institute (NAI)
Commentaries
François Knoepfler, Knoepfler Gabus Gehrig, Neuchâtel; Chairman, Swiss Association of International Law
Eric Schwartz, Secretary General, International Court of Arbitration, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Paris
THE CONDUCT OF ARBITRAL PROCEEDINGS UNDER THE RULES OF ARBITRATION INSTITUTIONS; THE WIPO ARBITRATION RULES IN A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE
Marc Blessing, Bär & Karrer, Zurich; President, ASA
Jan Paulsson, Freshfields, Paris
Commentaries
Gerald Aksen, Reid & Priest, New York
Michael Schneider, Etude Lalive & Partners, Geneva
THE ARBITRAL DECISION
Gerold Herrmann, Secretary, United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), Vienna
FEES AND COSTS
Francis Gurry, Director, WIPO Arbitration Center
Commentaries
Werner Melis, Chairman, International Arbitral Center, Federal Economic Chamber, Vienna
Stephen R. Bond, Partner, White & Case, Paris
THE WIPO EXPEDITED ARBITRATION RULES: FAST-TRACK ARBITRATION
Jan Paulsson,
Freshfields, Paris
Albert Jan van den Berg,
Stibbe, Simont, Monahan, Duhot, Amsterdam; Vice-President, Netherlands Arbitration Institite (NAI)
THE MEDIATION RULES OF WIPO AND OTHERS: A TICKET TO PARADISE OR INTO A BETTER MOUSETRAP?
Marc Blessing, Bär & Karrer, Zurich; President, ASA
Commentary