Geneva Master in International Dispute Settlement

Transcription

1 Geneva Master in International Dispute Settlement Academic Year Annual Report

2 Table of contents Introduction 2 The MIDS curriculum 3 The edition 4 The edition 10 Developments for The Journal of International Dispute Settlement 11 The MIDS: Quick facts 12

3 Introduction The Geneva Master in International Dispute Settlement (MIDS) is an LL.M. launched in September 2008 under the joint aegis of the Law Faculty of the University of Geneva and the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. It provides full-time postgraduate legal education in the field of international dispute settlement to students per year. It carries 65 ECTS credits. The purview of the MIDS encompasses the study of international commercial arbitration, international investment arbitration, WTO dispute settlement, negotiation and mediation, proceedings before the ICJ and various other international courts and tribunals. Its broad scope makes it the only program in the world that covers all relevant aspects of the field, thereby acknowledging the interrelations and similarities that exist between most methods and mechanisms of international dispute settlement. The MIDS is designed for students who have a first complete law degree and a good command of the English language. Most students already have professional experience in law at the time of enrolling, sometimes to a significant extent. Graduates from the program head for careers in the arbitration or international law departments of law firms, in the foreign affairs, trade or justice departments of governments, as in-house counsel in large companies, or as legal officers in international dispute settlement institutions, international organizations and NGOs. Some do a PhD after the MIDS. The MIDS aims at ranking among the first three choices worldwide for students seeking postgraduate education in international arbitration or international dispute resolution. MIDS graduates have been hired for long-term positions or internships by law firms such as King & Spalding, Shearman & Sterling, White & Case, Lalive, Schellenberg Wittmer, Python & Peter, and by institutions such as the WTO, the International Court of Justice, and the American Arbitration Association. Other MIDS graduates work in ministries of justice and foreign affairs, NGOs, and in various other business sectors. Program Director: Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler (Geneva Law Faculty) Board of Directors: Laurence Boisson de Chazournes (Geneva Law Faculty), Jean-Michel Jacquet (Graduate Institute), Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler (Geneva Law Faculty), and Marcelo Kohen (Graduate Institute). Executive Director: Thomas Schultz (Geneva Law Faculty) Staff Lecturers: Makane Mbengue (Geneva Law Faculty) and Michele Potesta (Graduate Institute) (until August 2010, Caroline Kleiner (Geneva Law Faculty)). 2

4 The MIDS curriculum Students are admitted for one academic year of study in residence (September through June), typically followed by up to two months of independent research and writing. The structure of the program is largely elective, offering students great latitude to pursue their specific interests in dispute settlement while keeping within parameters set to ensure the acquisition of the indispensable knowledge in the field. The curriculum of most students during the year included: - Two semester-long general courses providing a comprehensive overview of international dispute settlement. The first general course deals with the organization of international dispute settlement which disputes go to which dispute resolution mechanism, and how these mechanisms operate. The second general course reviews the main procedural issues that arise in the relevant proceedings, with an eye for comparisons and contrasts between the mechanisms. - A choice of intensive courses. Each course consists of nine hours of class spread over two to three days. These courses focus on a specific dispute settlement mechanism or explore in depth a particular topic. Intensive courses typically elaborate on matters addressed more briefly in the general courses. - A choice of semester-long optional courses drawn from a list of classes offered in the regular master program curricula of the Graduate Institute and the Law School. These courses revolve broadly around international dispute settlement. - Weekly tutorials, Oxbridge style, held in small groups. - Clinical workshops in legal writing, arbitration advocacy, financial damage analysis, and mediation. - Participation in an international moot court competition, such as the Vis Arbitration Moot, the Philip C. Jessup Moot, the ELSA Moot on WTO Law, and the ICC International Commercial Mediation Competition. - Attendance of a variety of conferences, colloquia, seminars and lectures. - Site visits to institutions of dispute settlement. - Completion of writing requirements, which include two short essays and a page LL.M. thesis. 3

5 The edition A class of 35 students took part in the second edition of the MIDS, chosen among approximately 200 applicants. The average age of the students was 28. The vast majority of them had practical experience in law, often substantial. Many had worked for a law firm, some for a ministry of foreign affairs or justice, or an arbitration institution, a court, or an international organization. All had a first complete degree in law, a large number were admitted to the bar and about a third had already earned a prior LL.M. degree. Two of the students did the program on a part-time basis, over two years, working as they were in law firms in Geneva at the same time. These 35 students represented 27 countries and four continents: 4 came from Africa (Ethiopia (2), South Africa, Sudan); 7 from Asia (China, Georgia (2), India, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka); 18 from Europe (Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, France (2), Greece, Italy (2), Portugal, Romania, Slovenia (2), Sweden, Switzerland (2), UK, Ukraine (2)); 6 from South America (Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador (2), Guatemala, St Vincent & the Grenadines). Preparing an advocacy exercise Pierre Tercier teaching part of his class on the premises of the ICC in Paris. This second academic year of the MIDS was opened by a lecture delivered on 28 September 2009 by Emmanuel Gaillard (University of Paris XII and Shearman & Sterling), who spoke about the representations we have of international arbitration and how these representations influence concrete legal solutions. 4

6 During this second edition of the MIDS, the students were taught the following courses: General Courses The Organization of International Dispute Settlement International Legal Proceedings Laurence Boisson de Chazournes Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler (both Geneva Law Faculty) Marcelo Kohen (Graduate Institute) Joost Pauwelyn (Graduate Institute) Brigitte Stern (University of Paris I) Sébastien Besson (Geneva Law Faculty) Intensive Courses (students choose eight) The Metamorphosis of the International Judicial Function Jurisdictional Immunities The New York Convention of 1958 Investment Arbitration Contrats d Etat WTO Dispute Settlement Negotiation Arbitration in the United States Sports Arbitration Philosophical Aspects of Dispute Settlement ICC Arbitration Arbitration and Mediation of Intellectual Property Disputes at WIPO Georges Abi-Saab (Graduate Institute) Andrea Bianchi (Graduate Institute) Albert Jan van den Berg (Erasmus University Rotterdam and Hanotiau & van den Berg) Jan Paulsson (Miami Law School and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer) Jean-Michel Jacquet (Graduate Institute) Gabrielle Marceau (Geneva Law Faculty and WTO) Robert Mnookin (Harvard Law School) William Park (Boston Law School) Antonio Rigozzi (University of Neuchâtel) Thomas Schultz (Geneva Law Faculty) Pierre Tercier (University of Fribourg) Erik Wilbers (WIPO) 5

7 Members of the Vis Moot Team Preparing negotiation strategies Bob Mnookin enjoying his class Optional Courses (students choose three or, if they take part in a moot court, one. Optional courses are drawn from a list of classes offered in the regular master program curricula of the Graduate Institute and the Law School. The courses listed below are those that MIDS students actually picked in , by order of popularity, then listed alphabetically). International Trade Law Joost Pauwelyn (Graduate Institute) WIPO and International Intellectual Property Law Conflits de juridictions et arbitrage dans le contentieux économique international Arbitrage international Edward Kwakwa (Graduate Institute) Jean-Michel Jacquet (Graduate Institute) Human Rights Through the Concepts Droit du commerce international: contrats, investissements et contentieux international dans le domaine de l énergie Andrew Clapham (Graduate Institute) Jean-Michel Jacquet (Graduate Institute) Droit international des investissements International Law Methods Jean-Pierre Laviec (Graduate Institute) Andrea Bianchi (Graduate Institute) International Human Rights and Judicial Interpretation: A Critical Approach L intérêt pour agir en droit international public Les relations économiques en droit international privé Andrea Bianchi (Graduate Institute) Pierre-Marie Dupuy (Graduate Institute) Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler (Law Faculty) Rédaction de contrats Trade Law Clinic Sylvain Marchand (Law Faculty) Joost Pauwelyn (Graduate Institute) Counterterrorism and International Law International Legal Framework for the Protection of Human Rights Andrea Bianchi (Graduate Institute) Andrew Clapham (Graduate Institute) The Responsibility of States, International Organizations and Individuals in Public International Law The Interpretation of Sources in Public International Law Pierre-Marie Dupuy (Graduate Institute) Droit international général et droit international des Nations Unies International Business Les garanties du commerce international Pierre-Marie Dupuy (Graduate Institute) Simon Evenett (Graduate Institute) Bénédict Foëx (Law Faculty) International Organizations Droit international privé Stephanie Hoffmann (Graduate Institute) Jean-Michel Jacquet (Graduate Institute) Droit du commerce international: sociétés et groupes de sociétés Droit monétaire international Jean-Michel Jacquet (Graduate Institute) Jean-Pierre Laviec (Graduate Institute) European Antitrust Damien Neven (Graduate Institute) Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler (Law Faculty) Pierre-Marie Dupuy (Graduate Institute) 6

8 The MIDS further organized, primarily for its students, a public guest lecture by Mohamed Bennouna (International Court of Justice) on international justice and politics, and further lectures by Yas Banifatemi (Shearman & Sterling) on MFN clauses in investment arbitration, Doak Bishop (King & Spalding) on energy arbitrations, Campbell McLachlan (Victoria University of Wellington) on lis pendens in international litigation, Pierre Lalive on his lifelong experience as arbitrator and counsel in some of the famous cases that have marked international arbitration, and Nicolas Michel (Graduate Institute and Geneva Law Faculty) on international mediation. Pieter-Jan Kuijper (University of Amsterdam) and Tullio Treves (University of Milan) also contributed as guest professors during one of the general courses. The students further attended the Lalive Lecture 2010, delivered by Gilbert Guillaume (International Court of Justice) on precedents in international courts and tribunals and in international arbitration. Nicolas Michel speaking about interstate mediations To supplement these classes and lectures, the MIDS students also took part in a number of conferences, including events organized by the Energy Charter Secretariat on the resolution of energy disputes, by the WTO on trade, energy and the environment, by the Swiss Arbitration Association on the Swiss Federal Tribunal s decisions in matters of international arbitration, and on advocacy in international arbitration, by UNO Academia on collective security and international peace, by the University of Neuchâtel on international arbitration, and by the University of St-Gallen on international dispute settlement. Education in the field of international dispute resolution cannot remain solely academic. The MIDS therefore asked the Foundation for International Arbitration Advocacy (FIAA) to organize a twoday clinical workshop on advocacy in international arbitration. The instructors of the FIAA workshop were advocacy teachers and experienced arbitration practitioners from Europe, the USA and Canada. In addition, the students were offered a workshop on financial damage analysis organized by FTI Consulting, a workshop on legal writing taught by Timothy Terrell (Emory Law School) and a workshop on mediation taught by Birgit Sambeth (Altenburger). In order to increase the students exposure to current debates in the field of international arbitration and to provide them with an additional set of networking opportunities, they were subscribed to the Global Arbitration Review, and to Young OGEMID, two of the most important news sources in the field of international arbitration. The MIDS students also participated in four moot court competitions. The best success was achieved by our team for the ELSA WTO Moot Court Competition: during the regional rounds in Helsinki, they won a place in the finals, which took place in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Further MIDS teams went to Vienna for the Vis International Commercial Arbitration 7

9 Moot; to Washington, D.C., to take part in the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition; and to Paris for the International Commercial Mediation Competition. Further along the road to practice, the MIDS also took its students to institutional site visits, to allow them to attend hearings and to better understand the operation of dispute settlement institutions. The students made visits to the ICC Court of International Arbitration, where part of Pierre Tercier s class took place, the International Court of Justice, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the Iran-US Claims Tribunal, the Mediation and Arbitration Center of WIPO and the WTO. In order to help students set the right professional priorities, to identify their next moves and how to start or reorientate their careers, the MIDS staged several career At the International Court of Justice events with practitioners in the fields of commercial and investment arbitration, trade law and trade dispute resolution. Several students were able to secure full positions or internships in the wake of these events. Other internships were organized by the MIDS, primarily in arbitration departments of law firms in Geneva and abroad. Successful studies are not only about contents. They also require the right atmosphere, friends to share experiences with, occasions to enjoy a year away from professional constraints. For the students, it is equally important to create contacts for the future and to stay connected to the program as alumni. For these purposes, the MIDS organized a number of social events, including a welcome party and various lunches, dinners and cocktail receptions. Some of them were attended by many of the key actors of the Geneva world of international dispute settlement, allowing for networking. Trips gave further occasion to socialize and groups were taken out for drinks by faculty members at various junctures of the program. Pierre Lalive and Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler discussing with the students the great evolutions of international arbitration In , almost 60% of our students received scholarships, financial aid or students loans, almost all ranging from CHF to CHF The vast majority of scholarships were arranged directly by the MIDS, and were made possible thanks to extraordinarily generous support from the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, a charity that wishes to remain anonymous, the Edmond J. Safra Foundation, and the Karl Popper Stiftung. Further scholarships and financial aid were provided by the Swiss government, the home governments of some of our students and charities in the home country of certain students. Student loans were provided by the US government. Financial support for the program, in kind or in cash, was provided by the Swiss Network for International Studies, the University of Geneva Law Faculty and the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. 8

10 Some student quotes on the edition: The MIDS has changed my life. I applied for the MIDS because I thought that it would give me an opportunity to specialize in international dispute settlement and perhaps a chance to start a career in this area. The reality far exceeded my expectations. I found the program extraordinarily stimulating and the faculty superlative. I am about to embark on a career as an arbitration lawyer and this is all thanks to the MIDS. I would recommend it unreservedly. A life changing opportunity. Before MIDS I could not even have imagined that my life would go such a way and that I would be doing what I am doing now, being where I am. It has just changed my life so much and I know that all these positive developments would have been just impossible without the opportunities given to me by MIDS. MIDS truly overstepped my even most enthusiastic expectations, and I am sincerely grateful to everybody who allowed me to be a part of the Program and who has been supporting me all the way through. The passionate, dedicated and utmost professional professors make this program truly inspiring, enjoyable and most of all indispensable to really understand international dispute settlement. The MIDS program felt mostly like an academic family : a place where many life lessons were learnt, where support was available every step of the way, where ambitions, goals and passions were shared, where life-long friends were made, and where one learnt to find their way in the working world with as much ease and comfort as a baby bird would take to fly away from its nest. On top of the high quality of the education given each and every one of the MIDS staff went an extra mile to make everyone's stay as conducive as possible. What strikes me is the level of commitment and organization. Above all I have experienced an incredible year with truly incredible people; a priceless knowledge and experience. A permanent visa to the world of international dispute settlement. Your program is a good place for us to recruit. A major American law firm in the field of international arbitration. Farewell cruise on Lake Geneva in June

11 The edition of the MIDS For the entering class of the edition, close to 220 applications were submitted. 39 students were enrolled, with a professional background, geographical diversity and average age similar to the students of the first two editions. They represent 27 countries and five continents: 3 come from Africa (Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mauritius); 7 from Asia (China (2), Georgia, India (2), Russia, Uzbekistan); 16 from Europe (Cyprus, Estonia, France, Germany (3), Greece (2), Italy, Norway, Serbia, Turkey, UK, Ukraine (3)); 3 from North America (USA (3)); 10 from South America (Bolivia, Brazil (2), Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico (3), Venezuela). While the curriculum remains fundamentally the same, the MIDS offers in a few additional features and new professors have joined its faculty. Among the main new features is an increased attention to instruction in the practical side of law or clinical education. In addition to the FIAA workshop on arbitration advocacy, the MIDS now offers a much more significant biweekly course on legal writing taught by Ian Meakin, an extended workshop on mediation given by Birgit Sambeth, and a longer seminar on financial damage analysis delivered by Geoffrey Senogles. An academic retreat has further become part of the program: this is a two to three day outing in a country setting, during which the students engage in a competition similar to a moot court process, to develop skills in analyzing facts and evidence, building a strategy, construing a legal argumentation, training oral advocacy, all within limited time and with the related pressure. With these developments, moot courts seemed no longer necessary, in particular at this postgraduate level. The new professors, and those returning from the first year, who will teach in the MIDS during the academic year are Emmanuel Gaillard (Paris XII and Shearman & Sterling), Daniel Shapiro (Harvard), Pierre-Marie Dupuy (Graduate Institute), Francisco Orrego Vicuña (University of Chile), Lucius Caflisch (Graduate Institute), and Lu Song (China Foreign Affairs University). The regulars, teaching each year are Laurence Boisson de Chazournes (Geneva Law Faculty), Jean- Michel Jacquet (Graduate Institute), Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler (Geneva Law Faculty), Marcelo Kohen (Graduate Institute), Robert Mnookin (Harvard), William Park (Boston University), Joost Pauwelyn (Graduate Institute), Antonio Rigozzi (University of Neuchâtel), Brigitte Stern (University Paris I), Pierre Tercier (University of Fribourg), Sébastien Besson (Geneva Law Faculty), and Thomas Schultz (Geneva Law Faculty). Out of the 39 students who will participate in the MIDS in , 16 will receive a scholarship from the MIDS, thanks to generous donations of the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, the Edmond J. Safra Foundation, and a charity that wishes to remain anonymous. Financial support for the program is provided by tuition fees (CHF ) and, in kind or in cash, by the Swiss Network for International Studies, the University of Geneva Law Faculty, and the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. The start of the academic year was marked by an opening lecture delivered on 29 September 2010 by William W Park (Boston University, President of the London Court of International Arbitration, General Editor of Arbitration International) on current trends in international arbitration. 10

12 Developments for The brochure for the fourth edition has now been printed. An electronic version is available on our website, Among the new developments, one may emphasize the addition to the MIDS faculty of George Bermann (Columbia Law School) for an intensive course on evidence in international commercial arbitration, and of Raúl Vinuesa (University of Buenos Aires) for an intensive course on investment arbitration in Latin America. Brigitte Stern (University Paris I) will no longer teach a part of the second general course, but an intensive course on the definition of investment. Jan Paulsson (Miami Law School and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer) and Albert Jan van den Berg (Erasmus University, Rotterdam and Hanotiau & van den Berg) will return to teach that year. Applications will be open from October The Journal of International Dispute Settlement (JIDS) The Journal of International Dispute Settlement (JIDS), published by Oxford University Press, in association with the University of Geneva Law Faculty and the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, has now two issues out. Their tables of contents are as follows: Issue 1, February 2010: Thomas Schultz, Editorial James Crawford, Continuity and Discontinuity in International Dispute Settlement William W. Park, Arbitrators and Accuracy Pierre Lalive, On the Reasoning of International Arbitral Awards Gabrielle Marceau and Julian Wyatt, Dispute Settlement Regimes Intermingled: Regional Trade Agreements and the WTO Gustavo Laborde, The Case for Host State Claims in Investment Arbitration Anthony Aust, Advisory Opinions Kaj Hobér, Investment Arbitration and the Energy Charter Treaty Bradly J. Condon, Lost in Translation: Plurilingual Interpretation of WTO Law Antonio Rigozzi, Challenging Awards of the Court of Arbitration for Sport Issue 2, August 2010: Thomas Schultz, Editorial Emmanuel Gaillard, The Representations of International Arbitration Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler, Soft Law in International Arbitration: Codification and Normativity Daniel Shapiro and Adam Kinnon, The Prevention Principle: A Pragmatic Framework to Prevent Destructive Conflict Wendy Miles and Daisy Mallet, The Abyei Arbitration and the Use of Arbitration to Resolve Inter-state and Intra-state Conflicts Jan Paulsson, The Power of States to Make Meaningful Promises to Foreigners Christoph Schreuer, Full Protection and Security Donald McRae, The WTO Appellate Body: A Model for an ICSID Appeals Facility? Joost Pauwelyn, The Dog That Barked But Didn t Bite: 15 Years of Intellectual Property Disputes at the WTO Chang-fa Lo, Good Faith Use of Dictionary in the Search of Ordinary Meaning under the WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding Chester Brown, International, Mixed, and Private Disputes Arising Under the Kyoto Protocol Stéphanie de Dycker, Private International Law Disputes before the International Court of Justice V.V. Veeder, Is there a Need to Revise the New York Convention? 11

13 The MIDS: Quick Facts Master of Advanced Studies / LL.M., full-time, one academic year. Joint venture of Graduate Institute and Law Faculty of University of Geneva. Program in English, with the possibility to take optional courses in French. Covers international dispute settlement broadly speaking, including international commercial arbitration, international investment arbitration, WTO dispute settlement, proceedings before the International Court of Justice, international negotiation and mediation. Curriculum includes: variety of semester-long courses and short intensive courses, tutorials held in small groups, clinical workshops, academic retreat, conferences and lectures, field trips to institutions of international dispute settlement In , 26 students, from 19 different countries. In , 35 students, from 27 different countries. In , 39 students, from 27 different countries. One third to one half of our students benefit from a full scholarship arranged by the program. 12