Save the date for Luther Lecture 2025

One of the success factors of arbitration was that it provided a workable and reliable means of dispute resolution even at times of conflict. The European Convention of 1961, for example, owes its existence to the need to provide a framework for arbitration proceedings between parties from the former Eastern and Western Bloc. Recent developments have adversely affected this predictable and reliable framework. The sanctions legislation of the European Union and the following countermeasures enacted in the Russian Federation and Belorussia have had a profound impact on conduct and aftermath of arbitral proceedings. In particular, anti-suit and anti-arbitration injunctions and obstacles to enforcement of awards and decisions seem to have become the norm, rather than the exceptions. The underlying question is whether arbitration is still providing its promises as an efficient and effective means of resolving the underlying dispute, and what needs to be done before the situation improves.