28 Apr Transparency in Arbitration: Webcast of the Sudan Abyei Arbitration
No sooner had I read Peter’s thought-provoking post about transparency in arbitration than I received a link to a complete webcast of this month’s arbitration before the Permanent Court of Arbitration between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement/Army over the Abyei region. This appears to be the first videotape/webcast of an arbitration between a state and a non-state actor. (Readers: Do you know of any other audio or video recording of an arbitration involving states?). The impressive arbitration panel is presided over by Professor Pierre-Marie Dupuy and includes Judge Awn Al-Khasawneh, Judge Stephen Schwebel, along with Professors Gerhard Hafner and Michael Reisman. The complete webcast represents five and half days of proceedings (April 18-23) at the Hague, which are broken up into 90-minute clips following the issues as argued by the parties. For those of you who teach arbitration, this is a treasure trove of material for classroom use.
Hat tip: Stacie Strong.
Bravo to Peggy and Peter for picking up on this important development. Not only does this make an important contribution to debates like transparency and the role of arbitration in resolving state conflict, it also provides a fantastic teaching tool. As someone who teaches international arbitration, the confidential nature of arbitration makes it difficult to show what “happens” in an arbitration (moots only go so far). This program helps fill an important gap in the pedagogical resources.
Yes this is a great window into public international law arbitration. Hope it gets someone bitten by the bug (for international arbitration not swine flu).
Best,
Ben