Regional Roundtable on Alternative Resolution of Commercial Disputes

Regional Roundtable on Alternative Resolution of Commercial Disputes

For a number of years, the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law has hosted a regional round table on alternative resolution of commercial disputes in cooperation with the German Open Regional Fund for South-East Europe (GIZ). The purpose of the round table was to evaluate the reforms in the field of arbitration law, commercial mediation and gender balance in these areas that were put in place in the countries of the West Balkans. The participants of the round table also discussed the level of harmonization of the laws on arbitration and mediation in force in the region with the relevant provisions of model-laws adopted under the auspices of the UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). The round tables were chaired by Dr. Judith Knieper from GIZ ORF, Dr. Fabian von Schlabrendorf, partner at Cliford Chance law firm in Frankfurt, and Mr. Jens Bredow, Secretary-General of the German Institution for Arbitration (DIS). Some of the meetings were also attended by Dr. Jernej Sekolec, former Secretary-General of UNCITRAL and current vice-president of the London Court of International Arbitration. The rapporteurs were professors and lecturers of the law faculties from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia. The participants of the meeting acknowledged and showed high appreciation for the efforts that the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law put in popularization of arbitration and mediation by including these subjects in the curriculum, preparing the students for moot court competitions, organizing the Belgrade Arbitration Conference and Belgrade Open Pre-Moot.