Professor Stavros Brekoulakis, LLB (Athens) LLM (London) PhD (London)

Professor of International Arbitration and Commercial Law
Email: s.brekoulakis@qmul.ac.ukTelephone: +44 (0)20 7882 8215Room Number: Lincoln's Inn Fields
Profile
- Professor Stavros Brekoulakis' academic CV [PDF 147KB]
- Professor Stavros Brekoulakis' arbitration CV [PDF 328KB].
Stavros Brekoulakis is a Professor in International Arbitration at Queen Mary University of London and an associate member of 3 Verulam Buildings (Gray’s Inn). He teaches courses in International Commercial Arbitration, International Construction Contracts and Arbitration, International Investment Arbitration, International Commercial Litigation and Conflict of Laws, International Commercial Law. His academic work includes the leading publications on Third Parties in International Arbitration, Arbitrability, the ICCA-Queen Mary Report on Third Party Funding and numerous publications in leading legal journals and reviews. He is currently working on a book on Policies, including Public Policy in English Arbitration Law (OUP forthcoming). He is a member of the Steering Committee of the UNCITRAL Academic Forum on ISDS, the ICC Commission on Arbitration, an assistant Rapporteur in the International Law Association Committee on International Commercial Arbitration, the General Editor of the Journal of International Dispute Settlement, the Editor-in-Chief of the (CIArb’s) International Journal of Arbitration, Mediation and Dispute Management and Co-editor of the Kluwer’s International Arbitration Law Library series.
Brekoulakis is regularly listed in the Who’s Who Legal: Arbitration, described as “standing out as a first-rate arbitrator and academic; an expert in construction and commercial disputes and is regularly engaged in matters arising out of major infrastructure projects around the world”. He was also listed in the Who’s Who Future Leaders: Arbitration 2017 as one of the ten most highly regarded future leaders, described as “very thorough and professional” and “held in the highest regard”, named as a GAR Thought Leader—Arbitration 2018 and 2019, and nominated for GAR “Best Prepared and Most Responsive Arbitrator” in 2016. He has been appointed in more than 30 arbitrations, as chairman, sole arbitrator, co-arbitrator and emergency arbitrator under the rules of the ICC, LCIA, SCC, DIA, CAS and UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules.
He holds an LLB degree from the National University of Athens, an LLM degree in International Business Law from King’s College London and a PhD degree in Arbitration and Conflict of Laws from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL).
Postgraduate Teaching
Research
Brekoulakis has been included in the QMUL submission for both REF 2008 and REF 2014 on the basis of recommendations from a number of dry runs and external reviews of his work.
His research focuses on a wide range of international arbitration and private international law topics including the role and relevance of third parties in arbitration, public policy, public interest and mandatory rules, decision-making and legal reasoning in private and public justice, arbitration and the rule of law, constitutional aspects of arbitration, third-party funding, procedural justice and international arbitration, value diversity in international arbitration, arbitrability and scope of jurisdiction of private tribunals.
His current research projects revolve around the following areas:
- Policies, Public Policy and Public Interest in law
- Consent, Third Parties and Non-Signatories in International Arbitration
- Legal Reasoning, Decision Making and Impartiality
- Third Party Funding
- General Arbitration Scholarship
Brekoulakis is currently leading a major interdisciplinary research project on Impartiality in Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS). This is a three-year research project which employs a mix-empirical methodology (questionnaires, interviews, surveys) aimed at investigating accusations of lack of impartiality in ISDS. The primary academic outputs of the project will be a jointly authored monograph and at least four journal articles submitted to high-ranking journals. Papers on the interim and final research findings will be presented at two workshops and a final conference, and be published in an edited volume, including papers from the academics presented at the workshops and conference.
Public Policy and Public Interest
- Article, “The Historical Treatment of Arbitration under English Law and the Development of the Policy Favouring Arbitration” Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, (2019) Volume 38, Issue 1 pp.1-28
- Article, “Public-Private Arbitration and the Public Interest under English Arbitration Law” Modern Law Review, 80(1) (2017) 22-56.
- Book, Policies, including Public Interest in English Arbitration Law, author (Oxford University Press forthcoming 2019)
- Chapter, “Transnational Public Policy in International Arbitration”, in Ortino & Schultz, Oxford Handbook in International Arbitration (Oxford University Press forthcoming)
Consent, third Parties and non-signatories in international arbitration
- Monograph, Third Parties in International Commercial Arbitration (Oxford University Press 2011)
- Article, “Rethinking Consent in International Commercial Arbitration: a New Theory on Non-Signatories” Journal of International Dispute Settlement, 9(1) (2018) 1-34.
- Chapter, “The Various Features of Consent in Arbitration” in Bjorklund, Ferrari and Kroll, Cambridge Compendium of International Commercial and Investment Arbitration (Cambridge University Press forthcoming)
- Article, “The Relevance of the Interests of the Third Parties in Arbitration: Taking a Closer Look at The Elephant in the Room”, 113 Penn State Law Review, (Summer 2009) pp. 1165-1187
- Article, “The Effect of an Arbitral Award and Third Parties in International Arbitration: Res Judicata Revisited”, (2005) 16(1), American Review of Int’l. Arbitration (Columbia University) pp177-209.
Legal Reasoning, Decision Making and Impartiality
- “Systemic Bias and the Institution of International Arbitration: A new Approach to Arbitral Decision-Making”, Journal of International Dispute Settlement, 4(3) pp. 553-585 (2013) (winner of the 2013 Park Prize for the best article in the Journal for International Dispute Settlement) (with link:)
- Principal Investigator, “Impartiality in International Dispute Settlement”, a major cross-disciplinary mixed method research project
- Major conference on Arbitration and Legal Reasoning, London (November 2016).
Third Party Funding
- ICCA-QMUL Task Force Report on Third Party Funding, co-author with Rusty Park and Catherine Rogers (ICCA 2018)
- Article, “It’s All About the Money: The Impact of Third-Party Funding on Costs Awards and Security for Costs in International Arbitration”, with Jonas von Goeler (Austrian Yearbook for International Arbitration forthcoming 2017)
General Arbitration Scholarship
- Empirical Survey, International Arbitration Survey: the Evolution of International Arbitration author (2018)
- Book, “The Evolution and Future of International Arbitration” co-author and co-editor (Kluwer 2016)
- Book “Arbitrability: International and Comparative Perspectives”, co-author and co-editor (Kluwer 2009)
- Article, “International Arbitration Scholarship and the Concept of Arbitration Law”, 36 Fordham Journal of International Law, 36(4) pp. 745-787 (2013)
- Chapter “The Role of Private Arbitral Tribunals in State Reform: Can we Trust Private Justice?” in G. Dimitropoulos, A Gromitsaris & Martin Schulte eds State Reform for a Better Europe (Duncher & Humblot Berlin 2016)
- Chapter, “Conflict of Jurisdictions in Arbitration: the (diminishing) relevance of the Lex Loci Arbitri”, in F. Ferrari and S. Kroell (eds), Conflict of Laws and Arbitration, (Sellier 2010)
- Article, “The Negative Effect of Competence-Competence: The Verdict has to be Negative”, Austrian Arbitration Yearbook (2009), pp. 237-258 SSRN
- Chapter, “On Arbitrability: Persisting Misconceptions and New Areas of Concern” essay in edited collection, Arbitrability: International and Comparative Perspectives, (Kluwer 2009) pp.19-45
- Chapter, “Law Applicable to Arbitrability: Revisiting the Revisited lex fori”, essay in edited collection, Arbitrability: International and Comparative Perspectives, (Kluwer 2009) pp.101-121
- Article, “Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards: Observations on the Efficiency of the Current System and the Gradual Development of Alternative Means of Enforcement”, 19 (3-4) American Review of International Arbitration (Columbia University) (2008), pp. 415-446. (with link: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2326368)
- Article, “The Notion of Superiority of Arbitration Agreements over Jurisdiction Agreements: Time to Abandon It” (2007) 24(4) J. Int’l Arb. (pp341–363)
Publications
Publications within the REF 2021 period
BOOKS
- (To be considered for inclusion as part of the REF 2021 submission) Book, Policies, including Public Policy in English Arbitration Law (OUP forthcoming). The book provides a doctrinal account and critical assessment of the policies, including public policy, underpinning English arbitration law.
- Report of the ICCA-Queen Mary Task Force on Third-Party Funding in International Arbitration (ICCA 2018). A comprehensive study on legal issues surrounding Third-Party Funding in international arbitration.
- Textbook, on International Construction Contracts and Arbitration (2d ed, Global Arbitration Review 2018). This is the only textbook that offers a detailed discussion and commentary on both substantive aspects of international construction contracts and the dispute resolution methods typically available in such contracts.
- Edited Book, The Evolution and Future of International Arbitration (Kluwer 2016) 520 pages which includes contributions from all major arbitration scholars and practitioners, as well as distinguished judges, including the UK SC President Lord Neuberger. The book offers an account of the remarkable evolution of international arbitration as an academic subject and as a distinct field of practice.
- Textbook, International Arbitration Law and Theory (Hart forthcoming). Unlike most existing textbooks on the subject which tend to be practically oriented and aim to inform students as well as practitioners, this is the first textbook to take a theoretical approach international arbitration law.
- (To be considered for inclusion as part of the REF 2021 submission), Sole Author, “The Historical Treatment of Arbitration under English Law and the Development of the Policy Favouring Arbitration”, OXFORD JOURNAL OF LEGAL STUDIES, (2019) Volume 38, Issue 1 pp.1-28. The article examines the judicial attitude and the development of the policy of English law favouring arbitration. It suggests that, contrary to the prevailing narrative in legal literature, English judicial attitudes in the 18th and 19th centuries never reflected a hostility to arbitration. As is demonstrated, a policy favouring arbitration was introduced by the legislature as early as the end of the 17th century, and was subsequently developed by English courts deciding under statutory law and in the 19th century under the common law. The analysis offers, for the first time, an account of English arbitration as a dispute resolution system which originally emerged as being part of, rather than antagonistic to, the English courts system. Understanding how arbitration developed in England is important not only for historical purposes, but also because it can provide helpful insights into current debates surrounding the legitimacy and potential reform of English arbitration law. Dry run assessments so far have rated this article 4*
ARTICLES IN REFERRED JOURNALS
- (To be considered for inclusion as part of the REF 2021 submission), Sole author, “Rethinking Consent in International Commercial Arbitration: A General Theory on Non-Signatories”, JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL DISPUTE SETTLEMENT,1(8) (2018) 1-34. The article is concerned with the role and relevance of non-signatories in international commercial arbitration. The article challenges the efficacy and coherence of the existing arbitration law in this area, and questions whether the traditional concept of consent for arbitration can be reconciled with complex commercial reality and nonsignatories today. Instead, the article submits that a general theory on non-signatories is needed, and proposes that the theoretical basis for finding that non-signatories have rights or obligations in arbitration be shifted from the concept of consent to the concept of dispute. Dry run assessments so far have rated this article 4*.
- (To be considered for inclusion as part of the REF 2021 submission) First Co-author, “Public-Private Arbitration and the Public Interest under English Arbitration” Law, MODERN LAW REVIEW, 80(1) (2017) 22-56. The article explores the public interest implications which may arise in arbitrations involving public entities. It argues that, due to the lack of a developed administrative law sphere in England and the historical development of arbitration as an exclusively private mode of dispute resolution, the current legal framework of arbitration in England has developed around the private law paradigm of a commercial dispute involving private actors, which cannot adequately account and protect the public interest. To that effect, the article submits an original proposal for the amendment of English arbitration law. Dry run assessments so far have rated this article 4*.
- (To be considered for inclusion as part of the REF 2021 submission) Sole author, “Public Policy and Judicial Function in English Law”. The article has been submitted for publication to a leading UK law review. Taking a historical and doctrinal approach, the article aims to first, clarify the concept of public policy in English law and the appropriate limits of judicial function, and secondly, to critique the majority decision of the SC in the Patel Dry run assessments so far have rated this article 4*.
- (To be considered for inclusion as part of the REF 2021 submission) “Transnational Public Policy in International Arbitration.” The article has been submitted for publication to a leading UK law review. The article examines the legal function of transnational public policy. It challenges the predominant view in scholarship and in arbitral case law that transnational public policy is a fluid concept that accords arbitrators wide discretion to decide on the basis of non-legal standards such as “morals,” “values” or “principles of universal justice”. By contrast, it is suggested, transnational public policy is a legal doctrine which cannot include anything other than legal norms, in the form of either legal rules or legal principles. Dry run assessments so far have rated this article as 3* and 4*.
Supervision
Current PhD students
- Lilit Nagapetyan: Bribery and Corruption in International Arbitration
- Michaela Halpern: Arbitration and Disputes in Standard-Essential Patents
Public Engagement
- Professor Brekoulakis gives the keynote speech at the ICCA-WIPO Conference on International Arbitration and IP Disputes (January)
- Professor Brekoulakis co-organises major conference on the new international commercial courts (November 2018)
- Professor Brekoulakis gives the closing speech at the CBAr Conference on Culture of International Arbitration (September 2018)
- Professor Brekoulakis announces the findings of the 2018 Empirical Survey on the Evolution of International Arbitration (May 2018)
- Professor Brekoulakis announces the findings of the ICCA-Queen Mary Task Force on Third Party Funding (April 2018)
- Member of the School of International Arbitration
- Member of the Centre for Law and Society in a Global Context (CLSGC)
- Member of the Energy and Natural Resources Law Institute
- Co-director of the Institute for Regulation and Ethics.
Related news
- Professor Stavros Brekoulakis awarded best lecture at GAR 2020
10 July 2020 - Professor Stavros Brekoulakis nominated for a GAR (Global Arbitration Review) Award
25 February 2020 - Dr Stavros Brekoulakis Quoted in The Law Society Gazette.
10 May 2018 - QMUL and White and Case launch international arbitration survey
12 October 2017 - Professor Stavros Brekoulakis to deliver the Key-Note Speech at a conference on Arbitration and EU Law
16 February 2016 - Professor Brekoulakis and Professor Mistelis speaks at 2016 Annual EFILA Conference
16 February 2016 - Report on Costs and Security for Costs prepared by the ICCA-Queen Mary Task Force on Third-Party Funding in International Arbitration
1 February 2016 - Professor Stavros Brekoulakis speaks at VAD 2016 Conference in Vienna
26 January 2016 - UK Supreme Court Decisions on Private and Commercial Law: The Role of Public Policy and Public Interest
10 December 2015 - Professor Stavros Brekoulakis co-chairs the ICCA-Queen Mary Third Party Funding Task Force Meeting
2 December 2015 - Professor Stavros Brekoulakis speaks at Non-Signatories at the GAR Live Conference in Paris
20 November 2015 - Professor Stavros Brekoulakis speaks at ICC conference in Athens
13 November 2015 - Professor Brekoulakis appointed to the Organising Committee of the International Arbitration Ball
14 October 2015 - Professor Brekoulakis appointed as General Editor of the leading academic 'Journal of International Dispute Settlement'
13 October 2015 - Professor Brekoulakis listed in the 2016 'Who’s Who Legal in International Arbitration'
13 October 2015 - Professor Brekoulakis speaks at the Pluricourts’ project Empirical perspectives on the legitimacy of international investment tribunals
28 August 2015 - Professor Stavros Brekoulakis speaks at International Bar Association Regional Conference 'Costs in International Arbitration' in Munich 18-19 June
22 June 2015 - Professor Stavros Brekoulakis invited to speak at an ICC conference on Multi-Party Arbitration, Istanbul
2 March 2015 - Professor Stavros Brekoulakis commissioned by PricewaterhouseCoopers to work on Alternative Dispute Resolution policies in the Emirates
27 February 2015 - Professor Stavros Brekoulakis to co-convene conference on 'The Evolution of European Private International Law'
17 November 2014 - Professor Stavros Brekoulakis to present at the Lex Mercatoria Publica Workshop: 'The (Comparative) Constitutional Law of Private-Public Arbitration'
13 November 2014 - Professor Stavros Brekoulakis part of a panel at The London Roundtable on Transnational Private Law Theory
3 November 2014 - Professor Stavros Brekoulakis to speak at 2014 CETA conference
7 October 2014 - Professor Stavros Brekoulakis organises a major event on 'The Future of Ethics in International Arbitration'
15 September 2014 - Professor Stavros Brekoulakis wins award for his article in leading International Arbitration Journal
7 March 2014 - Professor Stavros Brekoulakis appointed Rapporteur for the ICCA-QMUL Task force on Third-Party Funding in International Arbitration
16 September 2013 - Global survey opens up closed doors of international arbitration
3 October 2012