INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION 1/3LY
IN CONVERSATION WITH CHIANN BAO 07
PR I OR I T I S ING S T RONG INF R A S T RUC T URE , PROCE S SE S A ND T R A INING K IM The Secretariat has amuch greater and amore visible role than it used to. What is being done at the HKIAC tomake sure that you can support the new rules? CHI ANN We ensure that we have qualified staff at the Secretariat to administer these rules with efficiency, accuracy, and appropriate responsiveness. We’ve also established a Proceedings Committee to specifically handle rule interpretation, challenges and applications for consolidation and joinder. Where appropriate, we also draw on our International Advisory Board or fromoutside the relevant community to ensure proper neutrality of all decisions being made by HKIAC. K IM And howwill emergency arbitration provisions work in practice? Do you have a pool of experienced arbitrators that you can turn to deal to with these sorts of applications when they arise (whichwill invariably be on a Friday afternoon, I would imagine)? CHI ANN Our EA procedures apply prospectively, unless parties agree, so we don’t expect that many initially. So far, we have had one application but then parties decided not to go forwardwith it. However, we have the infrastructure in place to take appointments. We’ve identified a panel of Emergency Arbitrators who are experienced, generally independent practitioners or otherwise conflict free, and come fromaround the world so that we can have access to possible emergency arbitrators 24 hours a day. We are also holding emergency arbitrator training so that we can further expand the possible arbitrators on hand to appoint. Within the Secretariat, we’ve also established an internal system to administer EA applications. This requires staff to be on-call and to knowhow to deal with such applications immediately upon receipt.
K IM I noticed on your website that recently you appointed in-house lawyers onto the Council. What was the purpose of that? CHI ANN The idea of bringing in-house people onto our Council has long been on the table. It was just amatter of finding the right people. We were lucky to identify those who have both law firmand arbitration experience and are now working in-house on arbitration. Having both perspectives is particularly useful for arbitration institutions because ultimatelywe need to listen to our end users – the in-house lawyers –who really have a stake in the process because they’re paying for it. Recently, I sat on a panel at an in-house conference where the in-house panellist kept referring to itsmanagement and how to communicate withmanagement regarding the business implications of arbitration. That really resonatedwithme. No companywants to engage itself in arbitration and so you have to think about it from that perspective. Keeping that inmind helps HKIAC understand how to assist withmaking the process as painless it can be. K IM Again that’s something our clients will be very pleased to hear because disputes are lossmaking ventures for most companies. It’s good to know that the HKIAC is looking at it from a client’s perspective.
K IM Fromwhat you’ve said and from the institutional perspective, parties seemnow to prefer administered arbitrations for commercial disputes? CHI ANN Yes, I think institutional arbitration has received a big push in Asia generally. Having an institution involved gives users comfort. We’re starting to seemore corporate disputes as well. K IM Andwhat about the nationalities of the parties and the locations of the dispute where Hong Kong is chosen as the seat? Howmuch diversity are you seeing in these areas? CHI ANN Chinawill always be amajor player for obvious reasons. American parties are also a frequent user. East Asian parties are another often-seen party on one side of our disputes. We are now starting to see South Asian parties. And, with the investment fromEast Asian companies to Latin America and Africa, we have started to seemore parties come from these jurisdictions as well. K IM And relating to that, what split do you see these days between domestic and international arbitration at HKIAC?
E V OL U T I ON IN T HE HK I A C ’ S C A SEL O A D
K IM I’d like to turn now to the sorts of cases that HKIAC sees these days: Have you seen a big change in the types of cases being brought to the centre in the last four years? CHI ANN I think what changedmost is the shift from ad hoc arbitration to administered arbitration. There has been a reduction in the number of ad hoc cases, particularly construction cases. We’re still seeing them, but not in the same numbers as before. General commercial arbitrations are probably our bread and butter nowandmost of those are administered arbitrations.
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