A foundational principle of international arbitration is that the arbitrators deciding a dispute must not only be but also remain independent and impartial of both the parties and the dispute. However, an arbitrator’s own assessment as to his/her impartiality is likely to be influenced by his/her background and legal training. As a result, disclosure statements were often made on different bases.
The Guidelines, in addition to setting out general standards applicable to impartiality, independence and disclosure, also provide direction to arbitrators, parties, institutions and courts as to which situations may constitute a conflict and categorises those situations into four lists – the “Non-Waivable Red List”, the “Waivable Red List”, the “Orange List” and the “Green List”. The speakers will assist the participants in deciphering these colours against the palette of the Guidelines.
Click here to download IBA arbitration rules and guidelines
Sae Youn Kim Kim & Chang, Seoul; Co-Chair, IBA Asia Pacific Arbitration Group
Sae Youn Kim is a senior partner in Kim & Chang’s International Arbitration & Cross-Border Litigation Practice. Ms. Kim practices primarily in the areas of international litigation and arbitration with an emphasis on commercial and international law.
Before joining Kim & Chang, she served as a judge at various Korean district courts, practiced as a partner in two major Korean law firms, and led the international dispute resolution practice in one of them. Ms. Kim is licensed to practice in Korea and New York. She is a Commissioner of the Korea Trade Commission, an officer of Arbitration Committee of the International Bar Association, a vice chair of the Dispute Resolution and Arbitration Committee of the Inter Pacific Bar Association, and an alternate member of the ICC Court. She is regularly selected as a leading lawyer by publications such as Chambers Global, Who’s Who Legal, Legal 500, and Asialaw.
Chié Nakahara
Chié Nakahara is a Partner in the International Arbitration Practice at Nishimura & Asahi.
Chié, being dual-qualified to practice in both Japan and New York, has represented parties in international and domestic arbitral proceedings, ranging from multi-million to multi-billion US dollar disputes. Her experience covers a wide range of institutional rules, including the SIAC, ICC, JCAA, and KCAB, in various seats. She has extensive experience in dealing with disputes covering a wide spectrum of subjects/industries, including construction, joint ventures, post-M&A, government contracts, automobile manufacturing, consumer retail, distributorships, electrical appliance manufacturing, heavy equipment manufacturing, online games, energy, oil, and gas, etc.
Chié has also been appointed as an arbitrator, serving as a member on a panel of arbitrators for the SIAC, KCAB, JCAA, and Daiichi Tokyo Bar Arbitration Center.
Chié holds an undergraduate law degree from Kyoto University (LL.B.) and master’s degree from Stanford Law School (LL.M. in International Economic Law, Business and Policy). Chié has practised in Tokyo and New York.
Jay Patrick Santiago
Jay Santiago is a Senior Associate in Quisumbing Torres (a member firm of Baker & McKenzie International). He is an ICC YAF Representative for North Asia, a country representative of the Asia-Pacific Forum for International Arbitration, the co-chair of the CIArb Young Members Group Philippine Chapter, a regional representative of HK45, and an Ambassador of the IBA Asia-Pacific Arbitration Group.
With over ten years of legal experience, Jay has acted on various capacities in arbitral proceedings – party representative, tribunal secretary, and arbitrator. Prior to rejoining Quisumbing Torres, Jay was a senior member of the Secretariat of a renowned international arbitral institution. He authored chapters in various publications, including the Asia Mediation Handbook (Sweet & Maxwell, 2015) and Foreign Investment and Investment Arbitration in Asia (Intersentia, 2019).
Jay is an attorney in the Philippines and a qualified solicitor in England & Wales. He is a trained arbitrator at the Philippine Dispute Resolution Center and an accredited arbitrator at the Philippine International Center for Conflict Resolution. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Asian Institute of Alternative Dispute Resolution, and Philippine Institute of Arbitrators.
Jay obtained his LLM degree with Merit as a Chevening scholar at the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he also acted as the LSE International Arbitration Society’s LLM Advisor. He obtained his Juris Doctor degree (second honors; St. Thomas More Awardee) from the Ateneo De Manila University. He also has a bachelor's degree in public health (cum laude) from the University of the Philippines.
Lillian Chu
Ms. Chu is a partner at Tsar & Tsai Law Firm. She has vast experiences in arbitration and dispute resolution, construction and infrastructure projects, and cross-border transactions. She has represented clients on projects such as metro rapid transit system, Taiwan high speed rail project, airport MRT project, power plants and energy projects, real estate and hotel development projects in Taipei World Trade Center complex.
Ms. Chu is a member of ICC Court. She is also a Director of Judicial Reform Foundation in Taiwan, a Director of ROC Arbitration Association, and an Executive Supervisor of Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association. She was a Consultative Member of Committee for Examining Procurement Petitions, Public Construction Commission, Executive Yuan, ROC.
Colin Ong QC
Dr. Colin Ong is Queen's Counsel at 36 Stone(London); Chartered Arbitrator and Counsel at Eldan Law LLP(Singapore); and senior partner at Dr Colin Ong Legal Services(Brunei). He has broad experience as arbitrator and counsel in commercial and investment arbitration matters in diverse areas, including: banking; infrastructure projects; mining; energy disputes; information technology; intellectual property and shipping.
He is listed as one of the top 30 elite arbitration practitioners by the biennial Expert Guides – Best of the Best: Arbitration (2017 & 2019). Feedback includes: "an extremely creative and charismatic lawyer... the best cross-examiner...a star performer with a brilliant legal mind, and an excellent advocate with a compelling style." (Chambers & Partners Asia 2019); “a top person in the field...always very well prepared and asks very tough questions". (Chambers and Partners Most-in-Demand Arbitrators 2019). He is ranked as a Thought Leader in Arbitration, Construction and Commercial Litigation by Who's Who Legal ("WWL"). "...extensive recommendations from peers around the world for his strong work as arbitrator”, also winning widespread plaudits for his work as lead counsel in both civil and common law matters." (WWL Arbitration 2020).
Dr. Ong has sat as arbitrator and acted as lead counsel in over 350 arbitrations under many arbitration rules including AAA/BANI/CIETAC/HKIAC/ICC/ICDR/KCAB/KLRCA/LCIA/LMAA/OIC/ SCMA/SIAC/TAI/UNCITRAL and WIPO rules. He is visiting professor at both civil and common law jurisdictions. He is a member of the task force of the ICC commission; task force of ICCA-Queen Mary (costs/third-party funding) and 2020 ICC Commission Taskforce on Arbitration and ADR. He is the author of several legal texts, including chapters in leading books on advocacy and arbitration. His languages include English, Chinese and Malay/Bahasa Indonesia.
Shaneen Parikh
Shaneen has over two decades of experience in resolution of commercial disputes through both arbitration and litigation.
She focuses on arbitration (both domestic and international) having represented clients in disputes administered by various international arbitral institutions as also ad hoc arbitrations. She is also a Member of the SIAC Court of Arbitration and the LCIA Users Council.
Shaneen also handles commercial litigation in disputes relating to commercial contracts, shareholder issues, infrastructure, power and construction projects, financial and structured products, infrastructure, power and construction projects and white collar crime. She has also represented clients in various courts and tribunal across India, including the NCLT, High Courts and the Supreme Court of India.
Shaneen has been recommended by Who’s Who Legal 2020, as a Future Leader in arbitration and a Notable Practitioner in Dispute Resolution by Asia Law.
Shaneen is also actively involved in dispute resolution-related initiatives, as a speaker at various events and also as a published author.
Duncan Watson
Duncan is a partner in Quinn Emanuel’s Hong Kong office (having also practiced in our London and Sydney offices). Duncan specialises in international arbitration, and is qualified in both Australia and England & Wales. Peers describe him as “an exceptional adviser and advocate” and “one of the best of his generation” (Who’s Who Legal, 2020).
Duncan has acted as counsel in international commercial and investment treaty arbitrations under most arbitral institutions and rules, including the UNCITRAL, ICSID, ICC, HKIAC, LCIA, ICDR, SCC, CAA, and SCAI.
Duncan has acted for multinational corporations and high net worth individuals based in Korea, Indonesia, China, India, Russia, Denmark, South Africa, the Middle East, Australia, the US and the UK. He represents clients in a broad array of industries, including private equity and financial services, energy and resources, manufacturing, infrastructure, and intellectual property.
In 2018, Chambers & Partners notes Duncan’s “meticulous, detail-oriented approach”, and quotes a client as saying that, as an advocate, Duncan “commanded the stage and was a real star”. In 2019, it quotes interviewees as describing him as “very bright, hard-working and personable”, “quick, reactive and co-operative” and appreciates that “he always grasps the key issues”. Who’s Who Legal named Duncan a “future leader” in international arbitration. In 2016, it noted that he “stands out in Australia, and is feted for his ‘immediate and complete grasp of technical issues’”, and in 2017, it said that he “boasts a strong practice in Asia and is highlighted as ‘a very impressive young partner’”.
Duncan also sits as arbitrator; and is a Fellow of the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (ACICA), a member of the HKIAC’s List of Arbitrators, and a member of the KCAB’s Panel of International Arbitrators. He also regularly publishes and lectures on topical issues in commercial and investment treaty arbitration around the region, including advocacy.
Chié Nakahara
Nishimura & Asahi, Tokyo
Read biography