Melanie van Leeuwen appointed as member of the SCAI Court of Arbitration

Melanie van Leeuwen has been appointed as member of the Swiss Chambers’ Arbitration Institution (SCAI) Court of Arbitration as of 1 June 2019. A press release from the SCAI detailing the composition of the Court is available here.

GAR also published an article on 9 May 2019 detailing the new composition of the Court which reads as follows:

“New faces at Swiss chambers

The Swiss Chambers’ Arbitration Institution, or SCAI, has announced seven new members of its Arbitration Court as well as the appointment of a new vice-president.

The new members joining the court as of 1 June include Alexandra C Johnson of Bär & Karrer in Geneva, Clarisse von Wunschheim of Altenburger in Zurich, Daniel Girsberger of the University of Lucerne and Wenger & Vieli in Zurich, and Harold Frey of Lenz & Staehelin in Zurich.

Also joining the court are Lukas Wyss of Bratschi in Bern, Matteo Galante of MAG Legis in Lugano and Melanie van Leeuwen of Derains & Gharavi in Paris.

The new arrivals will replace seven members of the board whose term has come to an end: Andrea Bonomi of the University of Lausanne, Fabio Soldati of Studio 1896 in Lugano, François Bohnet of KGG & Associés in Neuchâtel, Jürgen Brönnimann of Bratschi in Bern, Martin Burkhardt of Lenz & Staehelin in Zurich; and Thomas Burckhardt of Simonius & Partner in Basel.

Christopher Boog of Schellenberg Wittmer in Zurich and Singapore, who has been a member of the Arbitration Court since 2016, will also become one of its vice-presidents. He replaces Domitille Baizeau of Lalive in Geneva, who will remain a member of the court until the end of the year.

The Arbitration Court is presided over by Gabrielle Nater-Bass of Homburger in Zurich, with Cesare Jermini of Bär & Karrer in Lugano serving as its other vice-president.

Nater-Bass says the members of the Arbitration Court are “professional and highly motivated practitioners” who are “the driving force” behind many of the SCAI’s initiatives.

“It fills me with great satisfaction to know that the departing court members will continue to be loyal to the institution and to promote SCAI in Switzerland and abroad going forward.”

She adds that the new additions to the court mean the SCAI “now has an even broader group of experienced practitioners to rely on and to expand its position as a leading arbitration institution.”

Regarding Boog’s appointment she says: “Chris is an experienced practitioner with an outstanding track record for handling a variety of arbitration matters and a dynamic and charismatic colleague. I very much look forward to working with him and would like to thank Domitille Baizeau for her great support and sound judgment as vice-president in the past three years.”

The SCAI was established by the chambers of commerce and industry of Basel, Bern, Geneva, Lausanne, Lucerne, Lugano, Neuchâtel and Zurich as a non-profit organisation offering dispute resolution services based on the Swiss rules of international arbitration and commercial mediation.

Members of the Arbitration Court as of 1 June

Gabrielle Nater-Bass of Homburger (president)
Christopher Boog, Schellenberg Wittmer (vice-president)
Cesare Jermini, Bär & Karrer (vice-president)
Homayoon Arfazadeh, Python
Domitille Baizeau, Lalive (until end of 2019)
Philippe Bärtsch, Schellenberg Wittmer
Bernhard Berger, Kellerhals Carrard
Sébastien Besson, Lévy Kaufmann-Kohler
Christoph Brunner, Peter and Partners
Stefano Codoni, Walder Wyss
Sandra De Vito Bieri, Bratschi
Harold Frey, Lenz & Staehelin
Matteo Galante, MAG Legis
Daniel Girsberger, University of Lucerne and Wenger & Vieli
Dieter Gränicher, Wenger Plattner
Alexandra C Johnson, Bär & Karrer
Michael Kramer, Pestalozzi
Goran Mazzuchelli, Studio Legale e Notarile Cattaneo Bionda Mazzucchelli
Andrea Meier, Wartmann Merker
Christoph Müller, University of Neuchâtel
Christian Oetiker, Vischer
David Roney, Sidley Austin
Frank Spoorenberg, Tavernier Tschanz
Melanie van Leeuwen, Derains & Gharavi
Clarisse von Wunschheim, Altenburger
Urs Weber-Stecher, Wenger & Vieli
Lukas Wyss, Bratschi
Boris Vittoz, CPV Partners”.

Interview with Dr. Hamid Gharavi on judicial expropriation in Bilateral Investment Treaties

As part of the Paris Arbitration Week, Dr. Hamid Gharavi gave an interview to the Indian law firm Nishith Desai on 4 April 2019 on the subject of judicial expropriation in bilateral investment treaties. Please follow this link to watch the interview on Nishith TV.

ICCA-IBA Joint Task Force on data protection in international arbitration proceedings

Melanie van Leeuwen will chair, on behalf of the IBA, the ICCA-IBA Joint Task Force to produce a guide to data protection issues in international arbitration. A draft guide for public comment will then be published in March 2019. For more information on the subject please follow the following link ICCA-IBA joint task force on data protection in international arbitration proceedings

Pre- and Post-Award Attachment – Tried and Tested Enforcement through the Netherlands

Derains & Gharavi will be hosting the breakfast seminar “Pre- and Post-Award Attachment – Tried and Tested Enforcement through the Netherlands” on Wednesday 3 April 2019 from 8:30 am until 10:30 am (Centre Etoile Saint Honoré, 21-25, rue Balzac, 75008 Paris, Salon Véga), during the Paris Arbitration Week (PAW).

The Netherlands plays a central role in the corporate structuring and tax planning of internationally active corporates. The jurisdiction is also popular with several states for the purposes of sovereign wealth management. An interesting asset position, combined with the liberal Dutch system of leave for attachment and enforcement, make the Netherlands an interesting jurisdiction to obtain security for claims prior to and during arbitrations, and to enforce arbitral awards once the arbitral proceedings are completed.

During this breakfast seminar we will uncover the legal avenues available to litigants to secure their claims and to enforce arbitral awards on assets located in and structured through the Netherlands. Together with guest speaker, Gerard Meijer (professor Erasmus University Rotterdam and admitted to practice in Amsterdam), Derains & Gharavi’s Melanie van Leeuwen and Sophia von Dewall (admitted to practice in Amsterdam and Paris) will discuss a number of recent cases, in which generous security was obtained and awards were successfully enforced in the Netherlands.

For registration, please send an email with your name and affiliation to Ms. Geertje Foucault (gfoucault@derainsgharavi.com). Limited places available.

2nd Edition of the Lusophones’ Arbitration Meeting

Derains & Gharavi will be hosting the 2nd Edition of the Lusophones’ Arbitration Meeting on Thursday 4 April 2019 from 4:30 pm until 6:30 pm (Centre Etoile Saint Honoré, 21-25, rue Balzac, 75008 Paris, Salon Boréal), during the Paris Arbitration Week (PAW).

This year the participants will discuss “The New Digital Economy and Arbitration”, with three Panels about the following subtopics:

Panel I: Dispute Resolution in the “New” Digital Economy (NDE)
Panel II: Blockchain, Smart Contracts and Arbitration
Panel III: Predictions and Big Data: Expectations, Possibilities and Limits in Arbitration

This event will be conducted in Portuguese.

The full programme is available here.

For registration, please send an email with your name and affiliation to Dr. Ana Gerdau de Borja Mercereau (agerdaudeborja@derainsgharavi.com). Limited places available.