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- The energy sector is essentially the sector in which international arbitration operates the most, is used the most in energy disputes, be the factual or arising from an investment treaty.
And I think one important thing to note is obviously, today's masterclass is focusing on energy and energy transition. But the important thing to remember for all those who are in attendance is that really international arbitration is a method of dispute resolution, right? It's a tool for resolving disputes, any disputes, which are quote, unquote capable of being resolved by arbitration.
Is a complex topic.
So you might have M&A disputes. You might have contract disputes. You might have energy disputes. So the utility of international arbitration is fundamental in resolving disputes, arbitral disputes generally.
And so what will come to-- what you would come to learn on the LLM really is the hidden layers of complexity, the legal framework which governs the resolution of disputes in accordance with international arbitration rules and the legal framework which supports it.
But obviously, in the current energy transition era, this is where really you might expect that international arbitration will be particularly prominent in the resolution of disputes, specifically because of its advantages, which we spend significant time on the LLM covering, i.e.,
it's neutral. It's not tied to any jurisdiction, at least in theory. It should not be tied to any specific jurisdiction.
Awards are final on the merits, subject to very limited exceptions pursuant to conventions such as the conventions, which are signed by states in which to agree to treat international awards as final.
And depending on what the parties agree it's also confidential, which also adds certain benefits to companies which do not want to air out their disputes because it might affect the prices of their shares. It might affect their capacity to reach a more amicable settlement down the line.
So we cover all these advantages of international arbitration. The important thing to remember is it's a tool which is relevant for various fields of law in which disputes arise, one of which is energy transition.
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- We teach arbitration in relation to its core characteristics so that it can be differentiated very well from other forms of dispute resolution. And so that a deliberate choice can be made in terms of the structuring of the dispute resolution process for a given--
for a given transaction.
So one of the aspects that we highlight in this course is that there is a growing preference for multi-tier dispute resolution. There will be negotiation that routinely will precede arbitration. So the parties will make an attempt at finding resolution to the dispute in an informal manner. If that fails, the case will be brought to arbitration. There could be mediation that will be incorporated along the way, or it's one step before arbitration.
So we highlight some of the tendencies that can be observed and that determine how dispute resolution clauses are drafted. But what we highlight foremost, I believe, is that how important it is to draft a good dispute resolution clause.
So for all of us practicing arbitration for quite some time now, we have seen many very poorly drafted dispute resolution clauses, so we know what the practical repercussions are. But from my experience, I can tell you that for billion dollar deals in the natural gas sector, it's not unusual to see a very poorly drafted arbitration clause.
So the key takeaways for our students from this course, what we expect, at least on our end, will be a practical skill of drafting an arbitration clause. And this will be then one of the aspects of the skill set that will be delivered throughout the course. But this is, of course, much more that is offered in the course.
So there's a whole life line of arbitration that we are discussing from that point when the arbitration clause is drafted through the particularities of the process.
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