Publish time: Tue Apr 30 16:43:35 CST 2019
On 16-17 March 2019, the 3rd Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot - Beijing Pre-Moot organized by the Beijing Arbitration Commission / Beijing International Arbitration Center (the “BAC”) jointly with the Chinese Initiative on International Law, the Young Arbitrators Forum of the International Chamber of Commerce and the China Young Arbitration Group, and an international arbitration seminar, were successfully hosted at the BAC. 12 teams from 10 Chinese colleges have taken part in this moot, and a number of renowned arbitrators and senior lawyers within the international arbitration community acted as the jury members. After fierce competitions in the round-robins, semi-final and final, the team from the University of International Business and Economics won the championship, the team from the Peking University the 1st runner-up, and the teams from the Renmin University of China and the Fudan University the 2nd runner-up.
Frontier legal issues have been introduced into this moot, including procedural issues such as the applicable law of arbitration agreement, and the admissibility and relevance of evidence, and substantive issues such as how hardship clauses ambiguously provided in the agreement are to be interpreted and performed, and whether the arbitral tribunal has the discretion to modify the contract in specific circumstances. The skillful design of the key information in the moot provided the competitors with a broad space for debate, fully revealing their solid theoretical foundation of international law and outstanding capability of legal research, as well as the in-depth understanding of Incoterms, the Principles of International Commercial Contracts (the “PICC”) and the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (the “CISG”), and also testing their flexibility in using case facts, with strong practical significance.
During the round robins and knockouts on 16 March, competitors have showed their solid legal professional foundation and excellent English fluency. When questioned by the jury members, they well overcame their nervousness and reflected strong mentality and outstanding flexibility.
The round-robins
The semi-final
Mr. Zhou Xianfeng, Partner of JunHe LLP, announced the semifinal participants
Mr. Cui Qiang, Partner of Commerce and Finance Law Offices, announced the list of final participants
On 17 March, the final was conducted between the team of the University of International Business and Economics and the team of Peking University Law School. The arbitral tribunal consisted of Ms. Susan Finder, Mr. Tao Jingzhou and Mr. Liu Jingdong, with Mr. Tao acting as the presiding arbitrator. After fierce competition, the team from the University of International Business and Economics won the championship. Following the final, the arbitral tribunal fully affirmed the performance of both teams, provided analysis of the core issues in the case, and shared beneficial suggestions. At last, the tribunal wished the competitors further good results in the subsequent moots to be held in Hong Kong and Vienna.
The final
Award presentation by Dr. Chen Fuyong
After the award presentation, the international arbitration seminar convened, conducting a discussion on core issues in this moot with combination of hot spots of international commercial arbitration practice. Session one focused on the exercise of arbitrators’ power and how arbitrators lead the arbitral process. Mr. Harald Sippel from the Asian International Arbitration Centre acted as the moderator, Mr. Cui Qiang, Partner of Commerce and Finance Law Offices, Mr. Fang Ye, Partner of Jingtian & Gongcheng, Mr. Liu Jiong, Partner of Allbright Law Offices, made speeches respectively. Based on his own practice, Mr. Cui Qiang compared the key differences between arbitrators’ roles in domestic arbitral process and that in international arbitral process, and stressed that domestic arbitration and international arbitration could learn from each other, so as to achieve advantageous complementarities, taking into account both efficiency and fairness. Mr. Fang Ye introduced the source of arbitrators’ power, and analyzed matters need arbitrators’ attention when executing their powers and leading the arbitral process, with the purpose that the arbitral award could well stand the test of judicial review and ensure the enforcement thereof. Mr. Liu Jiong said that arbitrators should exercise their power as per the different circumstances of cases, and that domestic arbitrators are also expected to fully execute their power to urge the parties to make their submissions, such as drafting and issuing procedural orders, in order to improve the efficiency of arbitration.
Mr. Harald Sippel
Mr. Cui Qiang
Mr. Fang Ye
Mr. Liu Jiong
Session two was moderated by Ms. Monika Prusinowska, Assistant Professor of China-EU School of Law at China University of Political Science and Law. Mr. Arthur Ma, Partner of DaHui Lawyers, Ms. Adela Mao from Tower Chambers (HK), and Mr. Darren Mayberry, Of Counsel of Anjie Law Firm, conducted a panel discussion. They shared with the audience how one’s argument is to be established by reference to cases in international arbitration. Mr. Arthur Ma mentioned that case law is normally not deemed as a source of law under civil law system, and thus is not binding upon the arbitral tribunal. In recent years, however, it has become a trend to convince the tribunal by submission of relevant cases. He clarified to the present young lawyers how legal research should be made for finding proper cases, and meanwhile reminded them that submissions to the tribunal are valued for their quality rather than their quantity. Ms. Adela Mao referred to her practice experience and stressed the importance of finding cases that are mostly similar to the dispute being dealt with, and share the method of distinguishing and examining whether cases are correctly used. Mr. Darren Mayberry mentioned that arbitrators may come from different jurisdictions, and so it is crucial to show the arbitrator with the cases as to how relevant law is applied in his/her jurisdiction.
Ms. Monika Prusiknowska
Mr. Arthur Ma
Ms. Adela Mao
Mr. Darren Mayberry
At the end of the event, Dr. Chen Fuyong delivered closing remarks. He firstly expressed congratulations to the winning teams, and extended thanks to all the jury members and all the participants for their joint efforts for the wonderful success of the moot. Then he provided insightful comments and analysis, from perspectives of arbitrators’ power, the relationship between fairness and efficiency in arbitral process and the role of case law in China, with reference to the legal practice in China. On behalf of the BAC, he thanked all the participants for their participation, and looked forward to their continuous support to the Vis Moot - Beijing Pre-Moot and a reunion in the next year to share another arbitration feast.
Closing remarks by Dr. Chen Fuyong
Group photo of speakers
Thanks are due to the following experts for their strong support in this event: Mr. Bao Zhi, Ms. Chen Guang, Mr. Chen Weizuo, Mr. Cui Qiang, Mr. Deng Zhicong, Mr. Dong Gang, Mr. Fu Panfeng, Mr. Gu Jia, Mr. Guo Yufei, Mr. Harald Sippel, Mr. He Dingyu, Mr. He Jingjing, Mr. Hu Xian, Mr. Jiang Xuan, Mr. Li Qishi, Mr. Liu Jingdong, Mr. Liu Yang, Mr. Lu Chen, Ms. Adela Mao, Mr. Meng Fanqin, Ms. Monika Prusinowska, Ms. Ou Weiyan, Ms. Shi Jialin, Ms. Susan Finder, Mr. Tao Jingzhou, Mr. Tao Xiuming, Mr. Tian Jigeng, Mr. Wang Biyu, Mr. Wang Qiang, Mr. Wang Xuehua, Ms. Wang Lijing, Ms. Xing Yuan, Mr. Xiong Yan, Mr. Xu Min, Mr. Yang Yulin, Mr. Zhou Xianfeng, Mr. Zhu Weiyi, Mr. Zhang Cunyuan, Mr. Zhang Zhiru, Ms. Zhao Huili, Mr. Zhao Xinnuo, Ms. Zhong Li, Ms. Zhang Xi. In addition, JunHe LLP, Jingtian & Gongcheng, Commerce and Finance Law Offices, DaHui Lawyers, King & Wood Mallesons and Allbright Law Offices are appreciated for their sponsorship.
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