VIII International Arbitration readings in memory of Academician Igor Pobirchenko

VIII International Arbitration readings in memory of Academician Igor Pobirchenko were held in Kyiv on 7 October, 2021. The event was a hybrid of an offline conference for a limited number of delegates in line with the current covid restrictions and  a live broadcasting to YouTube. The topic of this year’s Readings was “The evolution of arbitration in the turbulent world,” which was explored during the two sessions moderated by Aminat Suleymanova and Markian Malskyy.

The Readings 2021 were first to unveil the interim results of the historic comprehensive Study of the Quality and Development Stage of Arbitration in Ukraine, conducted by the Yuridicheskaya Praktika Publishing House.

100% digitalization in arbitration and the right to a physical hearing

Mykola Selivon, President of the ICAC, said that the pandemic had changed international arbitration dramatically. However, long before the pandemic outbreak, the ICAC had been working towards the digitalization of arbitration proceedings. COVID restrictions have accelerated the transformations which were already under way. It is noteworthy that in 2020-2021 the ICAC has dealt with parties insisting on a physical hearing of their case. The ICAC addressed such demands by  amending the Rules accordingly, however the international arbitration community is still debating if there is the right to a physical hearing in arbitration. The issue will most probably be regulated by the national legislation and the court practice.

Technologies and innovations in arbitration

At the beginning of Session I, Aminat Suleymanova, the moderator, referring to the interim results of the Study of the Quality and Development Stage of Arbitration in Ukraine underlined that most respondents agreed that the ICAC should continue to expand electronic document management and complete the transition to 100% digitalization. The session featured Dmytro Koba, head of business development at Jus Mundi, Yasmine Lahlou, partner at Chaffetz Lindsey, Oleksii Maslov, a senior lawyer at Avellum, and Ksenia Koriukalova, a senior lawyer at AEQUO.