Practitioners' International Arbitration Training Day

Tbilisi, Georgia, was the scene on 20 June of a Young ICCA full day introductory training in international arbitration, which was attended by over 90 Georgian practitioners. The covered topics included the cornerstones of international arbitration viewed from a historical perspective, major arbitral institutions, the drafting of arbitration agreements, key steps in arbitral proceedings, investment arbitration, as well as the role of national courts at different stages of the arbitral proceedings. The training day ended with a very lively debate on the future of arbitration in Georgia, moderated by Ms. Sophie Tkemaladze (ADR Advisor for EWMI-JILEP). Each participant received a hard copy of the Georgian translation of ICCA’s Guide to the Interpretation of the 1958 New York Convention. Speakers included ICCA’s Governing Board Member, Mr. V.V. Veeder Q.C., Eva Kalnina (Levy Kaufmann-Kohler, Geneva), Sophie Tkemaladze (EWMI-JILEP), Tamar Morchiladze (Dechert LLP), Giorgi Tsertsvadze (National Center on ADR, Tbilisi State University), and Mariam Gotsiridze (Ministry of Justice of Georgia).

The Pracitioner’s Training Day followed a successful workshop for Georgian judges on the New York Convention held in Tblisi on 19 June. The programme for judges was headlined by Mr Veeder who, together with Eva Kalnina (coordinator of the European Desk of Young ICCA), addressed six Georgian Judges from the Supreme Court (Georgia’s highest court) and the Court of Appeal, as well as twelve assistants to Supreme Court judges, making use of ICCA’s Judges Guide.

Both judges’ and practitioners’ trainings were organized in close cooperation and with financial support of the East - West Management Institute, which is implementing the Judicial Independence and Legal Empowerment Project (JILEP) in Georgia, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).