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Inaugural Working Seminar on Group Claims in Arbitration

2 November 2015

Time: 9:00am - 5:30pm
Venue: Kingsway Hall Hotel, Milton & Keats Room, 66 Great Queen St, London WC2B 5BX

School of International Arbitration logo
Calunius logo

The School of International Arbitration, Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London and Calunius Capital are pleased to announce the School of International Arbitration's forthcoming inaugural seminar on Group Actions in Arbitration. Leading experts from academic, practice and arbitration institutions and international organisation will discuss different approaches in common and civil law systems, the emergence of group actions in commercial arbitration and the experience with similar cases in investment arbitration. Insights will also be offered as to whether some regulation may be necessary in the future.

Programme

  • 09:00 – 9:20: Registration and Coffee  
  • 9:20 – 9:30: Opening Address on behalf of Queen Mary University of London, Professor Julian Lew, QMUL/ CCLS
  • 9:30 – 11:10: Session 1: Group Actions in Litigation – Civil and Common Law Experience
    Areas for discussion:
    • A comparative law investigation of common and civil law systems
    • Opt-out system – key issues in establishing a class; US no adverse risk unlike say Canada/Netherlands/UK – how do the courts scrutinise capital adequacy?
    • Opt-in System – e.g. in Germany courts now analyse solvency of claims bundling vehicles
    • Parallel Proceedings e.g. Air Cargo experience – UK/NL/German claims; EC law on multiple jurisdictions
    • Defendant arguments for fragmentation based on arbitration clauses in supply agreements vs EC policy for consolidation under the Treaty
    • Experience of Dutch collective settlement system
  • 11:00 – 11:30: Coffee/ Tea
  • 11:30 – 13:00: Session 2: Group Claims in Commercial Arbitration
    Areas for discussion:
    • Consent to arbitrate and group claims
    • Confidentiality, enforceability, public policy and due process concerns
    • Procedural challenges in dealing with class actions
    • Policies supporting commercial class arbitration?  
  • 13:00 – 14:15: Lunch Break
  • 14:15 – 15:45: Session 3: Investment Treaty Context
    Areas for discussion:
    • Review of case law and BITs: Distinction between mass group claims (Abaclat) and multiparty claims (Alemanni — Ambiente Ufficio)
    o Is special consent for group claims required?
    o Does the choice of the term investor (in singular) or investors (in plural) make any difference?
    o The concept of "dispute" in lieu of “consent" adopted in Alemanni
    • Practical/procedural considerations: how to deal with large group claims? What are the procedural challenges?
    • Policy considerations: are group claims in investor arbitration desirable? Should they be resolved through arbitration or not?  
  • 15:45 – 16:15: Coffee/ Tea
  • 16:15 – 17:30: Concluding Session: Possible Future Developments in Arbitration

Speakers

Session 1

Session 2

Session 3

Concluding Session

CPD Accreditation

The programme is accredited for 5.5 CPD Points with the Bar Standards Board (BSB).

How to Book

Participation is free, but prior registration is required via Eventbrite. Please register by 28 October 2015.

Contact

For more information, please contact the CCLS Events Team on ccls-events@qmul.ac.uk.

Sponsor

This event is kindly sponsored by Calunius Capital.

Photography, video and audio recording

Please note that CCLS events may be photographed or video and audio recorded. These materials will be used for internal and external promotional purposes only by Queen Mary University of London. If you object to appearing in the photographs, please let our photographer know on the day. Alternatively you can email the CCLS Events Team on ccls-events@qmul.ac.uk in advance of the event that you are attending.

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