Resolution of International Disputes: New Challenges and Prospects

The roundtable was organized by the Law Society of Hong Kong in a hybrid format. Representatives of the All-China Lawyers Association, the Commonwealth Lawyers Association, the International Bar Association (IBA), the Asia-Pacific Law Association (LAWASIA), the International Union of Lawyers (UIA) participated in the event in person and online. Russian Federal Bar Association (RFBA) was represented by Svetlana Volodina, RFBA President, Olga Schwartz, Advisor to the President, and Aleksandr Shefer, International Relations Officer.

In his welcome speech, C. M. Chan. President of the Law Society of Hong Kong, noted that Hong Kong continues to be one of the world's leading arbitration centers. Mr. Chan said that new technologies have accelerated the development of the legal services market, and spoke about the new technology projects of the Law Society of Hong Kong, including HK Legal Cloud, an online data storage platform for small and medium-sized law firms, as well as an online platform for transaction conclusion and dispute resolution.

Steven Thiru, Vice President of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association, pointed to the frequent conflict of ethical rules in different jurisdictions. For example, the concept of attorney-client privilege in Germany is much stricter than in England and Wales. If a German lawyer, according to the rules valid in England and Wales, must disclose information about his principal, he will thereby violate the ethical requirements mandatory for German lawyers. Such issues need clarification.

Peter Bartlett, Board Member and Past Chair of the International Bar Association (IBA) Legal Practice Division, recalled that one of the founding ideas behind the founding of the IBA in 1947 was that bar associations and law societies could contribute to stability and peace. He stressed that this principle is now of particular relevance.

Melissa K. Pang, LAWASIA President, spoke of the precedent when the World Trade Organization ruled that the US government's requirement that Hong Kong-made goods be labeled “Made in China” is unwarranted and violates international regulations.

According to the rules of the organization, the United States can appeal the decision to the WTO Court of Appeal. However, the appeals body is currently inactive because the US has almost single-handedly delayed appointing new members to the court due to concerns that it has overstepped its mandate. As a result, any such appeal will be declared void by arbitration and remain unsettled. The US trade representative's office said it plans to ignore the commission's decision anyway.

Ms. Pang emphasized that this case revealed the imperfection of the current mechanisms for responding to violations of the rules of the international structure committed by its members, and called on large international structures such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to pay attention to this problem.

Urquiola Mariana de Palacio del Valle de Lersundi, President of the International Union of Lawyers (UIA), noted that the presence of a large number of arbitration with their own rules leads to the situation when decisions are often controversial and difficult to predict. According to the speaker, the work is needed to unify the rules of arbitration. At the end of the round table, the participants agreed to continue joint work on solving the discussed problems.