Associate Professor Kun Fan has been nominated as a member of the Task Force for the revision of the International Bar Association’s (IBA) Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest in International Arbitration. This project has been organised by the IBA Arbitration Guidelines and Rules Subcommittee and will run throughout 2023.
Although a survey carried out by the Subcommittee in 2022 confirmed the Guidelines remain a useful and effective tool within the industry, it was suggested certain areas require modernisation and fine-tuning. These areas include:
i. Arbitrator disclosures
ii. Third-party funding
iii. Issue conflicts
iv. Organisational models for legal professionals in different jurisdictions
v. Expert witnesses
vi. Sovereigns or their agencies and instrumentalities
vii. Non-lawyer arbitrators
viii. Social media
Members of the task force have been divided into subgroups and each team will examine the issues identified in the survey. Each subgroup will identify concrete issues within their topic and propose amendments. A ninth subgroup will also identify any other potential issues within the Guidelines which should be revised and amended. Ultimately, the project aims to present a revised version of the Guidelines to the arbitration community in 2024.
Associate Professor Kun Fan’s sub-group will be examining issue (i) - Arbitrator disclosures. This project allows Kun and her colleagues to contribute to the development of arbitral practice and theory and to shape the future of the arbitral industry.
You can read more about Associate Professor Kun Fan’s research on SSRN, Google Scholar and Twitter @Fankunlegal.