International Arbitration Lecture

24th Annual Clayton Utz and University of Sydney International Arbitration Lecture

Topic: Dissents in International Arbitration revisited: the good, the bad, and the ugly

Speaker: Professor Janet Walker CM, C Arb, DPhil(Oxon)

In international commercial arbitration, dissents are viewed as, at best, an unfortunate incident of the deliberative process and, at worst, a pernicious means of undermining the confidentiality and enforceability of arbitral awards. In his 2003 Freshfield’s Lecture "Dissenting Opinions in International Commercial Arbitration: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” Professor Alan Redfern, explained why there was much that was bad and ugly in dissents, but there was almost nothing good to say about them.

This lecture revisits the criticisms of dissents and proposes an approach to the deliberative process that embraces the possibility of dissent. It considers the potential benefits to collegial decision-making, the ways that dissent might be handled, and the opportunity this provides to improve outcomes and accountability.