On 31 March 2017 the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law had a pleasure of hosting leading arbitration practitioners, experts and academics from London, Paris, Vienna, Moscow, Geneva, Zurich, Dubai, New York and Belgrade at its annual Belgrade Arbitration Conference. The Conference gathered more than 300 participants from more than 40 different countries, and 19 esteemed panelists, renowned practitioners and professors from the filed of arbitration law, discussed the theoretic and practical implications of the current issues of international commercial arbitration.  See Conference Program.
The opening ceremony begun with the words of Prof. Sima Avramović, Dean of the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law, followed by  Prof. Dragor Hiber, president of Serbian Arbitration Association, Marko Čadež, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia,  Slobodan Šarić, representative of Open Regional Fund South East Europe Legal Forum and Ass. Prof. Millena Đorđević, on behalf of the Organizing Board of Belgrade Arbitration Conference. In the name of the traditional partner of our Faculty in the organization of the Belgrade Arbitration Conference, German Institution of Arbitration – DIS, Kоrinna Von Trotha took the floor and presented the work of DIS. Afterwards, Dr. Judith Knieper, representative of UNCITRAL, gave a short speech on ”Transparency in Arbitration”.

The topics of the Conference were divided into three panels: the first one, focused on the arbitrability, the second, discussed the problems of third party funding and interim measures, while the third one had the focus on assessment of damages in international arbitration.

The work of the first panel – discussing the issue of arbitrability – was chaired by Leon Kopecky, Counsel in Schoenherr Vienna office. Speakers of the first panel were Michael Nueber, Associate in zeiler.partners, Vienna office (“Arbitrability of Competition Law Disputes and the Scope of Application of Arbitration Clauses in Private Enforcement Proceedings”), Sonja Srećković, Associate in Debevoise & Plimpton, London office (”Arbitrability of Corporate Disputes”), Filip Boras, partner in Baker McKenzie, Vienna office (”Arbitration and Insolvency”), Živa Filipič, Counsel in International Court of Arbitration International Chamber of Commerce in Paris (”Arbitrability Issues in ICC Practice”), Ilija Mitrev Penusliski, Counsel in Shearman & Sterling, Paris office (”False Arbitrability – Investment v. Commercial Arbitration Concepts”).

The second panel focused on the issues of Third Party Funding and Interim Measures, was chaired by Stefan Kroell, honorary professor at the Buccerius University in Hambuer. The discussions evolved around presentations of Kirill Udovichenko, partner in MZS & Partners from Moscow (”Third Party Finance – a Matter of Trust”), Nataša Lalatović Đorđević, attorney at Moravčević, Vojnović and partners in cooperation with Schoenherr (”Security for Costs and Third Party Funding”), Giulio Palermo, Attorney at LALIVE from Geneva (”Most important Characteristics of the Agreement Between a Party to an Arbitraion and a Third Party Funding”), Duncan Speller, partner in WilmerHale, London office (”Recent Developments on Third Party Funding”), Marco Stacher, Counsel in Walder Wyss from Zurich (”Security for Costs in Arbitration”), Luka Krištović Blažević, Counsel in White & Case, Dubai office (”The Interplay of Arbitral Tribunals and State Courts in Granting Interim Relief in International Arbitration Proceedings”).

The third panel was chaired by Karl Peter Puszkajler, judge from Munich. The panelists in third panel who discussed the issue of assessment of damages in international arbitration were Uglješa Grušić, professor at University College London (”Substance/Procedure Divide and the Problems of Currency Fluctuations and Interest in International Commercial Arbitration”), Darko Stanisavić and Aleksandra Petrović from audit company Deloitte (”Key Aspects of Damages Computation”), Florian Haugeneder, partner in KNOETZL, Vienna office (”The Assessment of Claims in M&A Arbitrations”), Derek Soller, partner in Baker McKenzie, New York office (”What Would Have Happened If? The role of hypothesis, Assumptions, Good Faith Estimates and Speculation. Questions of Law or Fact or Both?”), Milica Savić, Attorney at Karanović/Nikolić, Belgrade office (”How do Arbitral Tribunal Assess Various Types of Damages?”).

After the Conference the cocktail on the occasion of this event was organized in the Faculty lounge El Derecho.

The Conference was co-organized  with the German Institution of Arbitration (DIS), GIZ Regional Open Fund for SEE, Serbian Arbitration Association, Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development and Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia. The organization of the Conference was also generously supported by the numerous law firms: Moravčević, Vojnović and partners in cooperation with Schoenherr, Karanović-Nikolić, SOG – Samardzić Oreški Grbović, BDK Attorneys, Wilmer Hale, White & Case, Shearman & Sterling, Baker McKenzie and the audit company Deloitte. The work of the conference was endorsed by NALED, UNCITRAL and the American Chamber of Commerce in Serbia. As in the previous years, the organizing committee of this year’s arbitration conference was consisted of Professor Dr. Mirko Vasiljević, Professor Dr. Vladimir Pavić, Assistant Professor Dr. Milena Đorđević, Assistant Professor Dr. Marko Jovanović and lecturer Uroš Živković.