8 February 2024
Over the last few months, CIBEL member Associate Professor Kun Fan has been busy sharing her latest research on arbitration and dispute settlement law.
On 19 December 2023, Associate Professor Fan delivered a keynote at the Shanghai International Arbitration Center (SHIAC) Talk in Shanghai. Her speech ‘Investor State Dispute Settlement: Challenges and Opportunities’ made an in-depth analysis of investor state dispute settlement from a few different angles. Associate Professor Fan explored the changes in the international situation and its impact on international investment law, the challenges faced by international investment substantive law and dispute resolution mechanisms, the reforms of substantive and procedural laws, and opportunities arising from these. She also discussed the key topics of historical evolution, innovative measures and trends in the development of the Investor-State Dispute Settlement mechanism.
Associate Professor Fan has recently co-authored an article for the Vindobona Journal discussing ‘Incorporation by Reference of General Terms and Conditions into a CISG Contract: The Experts Debate’ with Professor Camilla Andersen, Professor Qiao Liu, and Professor Lisa Toohey.
The article brings together the opinions of these leading experts in a debate and dialogue format. The authors pose and discuss many questions, but ultimately one remains the most relevant : whether, and under what circumstances, it would be appropriate for terms and conditions incorporated merely by reference to form part of a CISG contract for the sale of goods. The authors engage with their sometimes strongly differing views on this matter to reinforce the challenges inherent in commercial contracts – that it is especially easy for disputes to arise, especially in the frenetic pace The discussion serves as a timely reminder to lawyers and businesspeople to take care in how and where standard terms where arbitration is the preferred dispute resolution mechanism. More broadly, the authors urge the audience to remember that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” With careful advice and even more careful drafting, parties can generally avoid ambiguities, and prevent disputes from arising.
You can find out more about the latest issue of the Vindobona Journal and how to access this article here.
Associate Professor Fan also acted as a general rapporteur with Professor Löic Cadiet for the XVII World Congress Of Procedural Law, and published a chapter on "Independence and Impartiality of Arbitrators, Mediators and Experts” in JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE IN THE THIRD MILLENNIUM, XVII World Congress Of Procedural Law, Palestra, 2023, pp 593-642.
Keep up with Associate Professor Kun Fan’s research on SSRN, LinkedIn and Twitter.