ICCA has recently published its first Diversity and Inclusion Policy and a Diversity and Inclusion Implementation Plan, together with an updated Non-Discrimination and Harassment Policy. These publications were approved by the ICCA Governing Board at its annual meeting on 11 May 2020. The ICCA Diversity and Inclusion Policy recognizes that “promoting diversity and inclusion are integral to ICCA’s core mission and excellence”, with concrete steps to be taken by ICCA to realise “the values of diversity and inclusion” set out in the ICCA Diversity and Inclusion Plan. ArbitralWomen members ICCA President Lucy Reed, former President Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler and ICCA Diversity and Inclusiveness Committee Chair Vera van Houtte, and ICCA Executive Director Lise Bosman, together with the consultant Anna Spain Bradley, worked with the Diversity and Inclusiveness Committee, Governing Board and ICCA Bureau to develop the new policies and plan. The ICCA Diversity and Inclusion Policy will be discussed in greater detail at a seminar to take place during the forthcoming ICCA Congress in Edinburgh, of which ArbitralWomen is pleased to act as Media Supporter aw3.devindc.com/events/icca-2020. The ICCA Diversity and Inclusion Policy and Implementation Plan will be discussed at a Breakfast Seminar on Thursday 4 February 2021 at the XXVth ICCA Congress in Edinburgh. The Seminar will include interventions by ICCA Inclusiveness Committee Chair Vera van Houtte; consultant Anna Spain Bradley; ArbitralWomen and Inclusiveness Committee member Carolyn Lamm; and Inclusiveness Committee members Prof. Mohamed Abdel Wahab and Lise Bosman. Further information is available in the release announcement published by ICCA here. Submitted by ArbitralWomen Board Member Amanda Lee, Consultant at Seymours, London 

A group of arbitration practitioners from across the globe have launched ‘Virtual Arbitration’, a website  https://virtualarbitration.info that provides a forum for the sharing of news and developments relating to the practice of arbitration via web-based communication platforms. In addition to sharing information about the latest technological developments and providing practical advice and tips to assist those navigating virtual hearing environments, the Virtual Arbitration website hosts a Directory of information about venues offering virtual hearing services, institutions and technical providers. The founders of Virtual Arbitration include, among others, ArbitralWomen co-founder Mirèze Philippe and members Juliet Blanch, Lucy Greenwood, Wendy Miles QC, Erin Miller Rankin and Janet Walker. Submitted by ArbitralWomen Board Member Amanda Lee, Consultant at Seymours, London  

The ICC International Court of Arbitration (“ICC Court”) of the International Chamber of Commerce (“ICC”) is currently conducting a search for candidates for the position of President of the ICC Court, which will become vacant on 1 July 2021 upon the expiry of the second term of current President Alexis Mourre. “The ICC is being completely transparent about its selection process,” commented Michael McIlwrath, Chair of the Governing Body for Dispute Resolution Services acting as Chair of the Selection Committee, “with the names of all of the members of the selection committee and the process, methods and timetable available on-line here.” Applications are due by no later than 1 July 2020, although candidates are encouraged to submit their application as soon as possible in June 2020! Applications must include a motivation letter with a detailed personal statement explaining the reasons why candidates believe they are a suitable President of the ICC Court, including their vision for the Presidency and future development of the ICC Court. More information about the application requirements are available on the ICC Court website here. We encourage all potential applicants to carefully review the requirements for candidates and the selection process set out in the Terms of Reference on the ICC Court website.

Criteria for candidates include:

• International recognition as an arbitration practitioner of impeccable reputation and high professional ethics, with diverse and practical experience and familiarity with other ADR techniques;
• No disciplinary or criminal sanctions (historic or ongoing);
• Fluency in English; other language skills strongly desired;
• Strong communication skills, including intercultural communication, as well as management skills and strategic sensitivity;
• Availability and willingness to devote a very substantial part of time to the work as President of the ICC Court;
• Availability and willingness to commit to a frequent presence at the ICC Headquarters and offices for ICC Court meetings and other ICC Court activities, as well as to ensure the desired proximity between the President of the ICC Court and the ICC Court Secretariat’s management and teams;
• Availability and willingness, if required to do so, to serve for two consecutive terms;
• Availability and willingness to travel frequently overseas, including long distances and for long periods of time;
• Availability and willingness, as provided by the Rules, to discontinue participation in any capacity in any ICC case as from the beginning of the term of office;
• Availability and willingness to commit to refrain from accepting any position, during tenure as President, in any institution or entity providing dispute resolution services or acting as arbitration funder, and refraining from holding any interest in any such institution;
• Availability and willingness to commit to refrain from acting, during tenure as President, as counsel in investor/State arbitration proceedings.

We encourage anyone including ArbitralWomen members who satisfy these criteria to please consider applying for the position!

The ArbitralWomen Mentorship Programme links experienced dispute resolution practitioners (general counsel, lawyers in private practice, mediators, arbitrators and experts) with talented, ambitious women with high potential, enabling the latter to benefit from the advice and experience of the former. Applicants to the ArbitralWomen Mentorship Programme are matched with a Mentor from their jurisdiction, sector or professional background. When a match is confirmed, the mentoring partners meet regularly (such meetings need not be in person), at a frequency that is convenient for both for one year. The deadline to apply to become an ArbitralWomen Mentor is 31 July 2020. We encourage our Members to apply to serve as ArbitralWomen Mentors and invite experienced practitioners, in-house counsel and those with backgrounds in forensic evaluation, compliance, and mediation to apply. It is not necessary to have prior experience as a Mentor. ArbitralWomen Mentors have a meaningful impact on the career development of a female practitioner and make a significant difference to their career. As an ArbitralWomen Mentor you will have the opportunity to:

• Develop the next generation of female leaders in international dispute resolution
• Improve gender diversity in the future leadership of corporations, law firms and consulting companies
• Enhance and expand your connections to junior female practitioners, arbitrators, mediators and experts
• Develop a larger talent pool of potential female arbitrators, mediators and experts
• Benefit from potential opportunities for reverse mentorship

If you have any questions about the Mentorship Programme then please contact Directors Alison Pearsall and Amanda Lee (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).To apply to become an ArbitralWomen Mentor and be part of the ArbitralWomen Mentorship Programme success story, please complete the form available here and send it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by no later than 31 July 2020.

Since its launch in 2016, the Equal Representation in Arbitration (ERA) Pledge has become a beacon in the pursuit of female representation in arbitration. From its inception, the Pledge has had two main objectives: to improve the profile and representation of women in arbitration, and to encourage the business and dispute resolution communities to appoint women as arbitrators on an equal opportunity basis. The Pledge is guided by a Steering Committee formed of senior arbitration practitioners and users from around the world and currently has over 4,000 signatories, composed of individuals, firms and organisations committed to taking concrete actions to further these objectives. The under-representation of women in arbitration is nevertheless very much a reality. The lack of visibility of female arbitrators is often cited as a reason for the low number of women on arbitral tribunals, which prompted the ERA Pledge Steering Committee to consider ways to facilitate sharing information about qualified female candidates and contribute to an increase in the visible pool of female arbitrators (see “New female arbitrator search tool launched to promote greater equality in arbitration”). To provide an answer to this problem, an “Arbitrator Search” tool was launched shortly after the Pledge. The “Arbitrator Search” tool seeks to assist arbitration users in their search of female arbitrators. To this end, a Search Committee was constituted, composed of volunteers from arbitral institutions (excluding individuals from law firms in order to avoid any conflict of interest) to provide names of female arbitrator candidates who may be less well known, but who are considered to have relevant experience. No member of the Search Committee may be proposed as a potential candidate. Anyone can benefit from the “Arbitrator Search” service by simply completing the form on the Pledge’s website. To enable the Search Committee to propose names, it needs to be provided with information about the requirements of the person seeking assistance, who must complete the fields related to the expertise of the prospective arbitrator, relevant information about the dispute, applicable law, languages needed for the case, place of arbitration, an estimation of the amount in dispute if possible, and any nationality that should not be considered for a given dispute. Once the request is received, the Search Committee identifies potential candidates to propose based on the criteria provided in the completed form. Candidates are proposed without any commitment or liability for the ERA Pledge, its Steering Committee or the Search Committee members, as explained on the “Arbitrator Search” tool and in a Kluwer Arbitration Blog post (see “One Step Further after the Launch of the ERA Pledge: A Search Service for Female Arbitrators Appointments”). Information provided by users of the “Arbitrator Search” tool and all work by the Search Committee are kept confidential. The Pledge's "Arbitrator Search" tool is a timely and valuable resource at a time when more disputes subject to arbitration are likely to arise due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, and when arbitration may play a more important role in this context. Submitted by Karima Sauma, Executive Director of the International Center for Conciliation and Arbitration of the Costa Rican-American Chamber of Commerce, and Mirèze Philippe, Special Counsel ICC International Court of Arbitration and ArbitralWomen Co-Founder

Delos has provided an initial collection of the resources available on holding remote or virtual arbitration and mediation hearings, organised into

1. guidance and checklists,
2. protocols,
3. model procedural orders,
4. webinar recordings and
5. other resources.

This collection is being maintained up-to-date by ArbitralWomen member Mihaela Apostol and Delos President Hafez Virjee. By way of background, the spread of the COVID-19 virus in the first quarter of 2020 has posed increasing challenges to the careful, advanced planning of in-person hearings in international arbitrations. Potential solutions have included reducing the number of participants, moving the hearing to another location, postponing it, or moving part or all of it online. These online hearings, typically referred to as ‘virtual’ or ‘remote’ hearings, have in turn created new challenges for practitioners due to lack of familiarity and experience with the available platforms. Part of the experiential deficit has been addressed through the shift of international arbitration events to the online space, with the substantial increase of webinars.  Another trend has been the sharing of know-how online, ranging from written guidance and model procedural orders to panel discussions and practical webinars.  While these trends are a healthy display of the international arbitration community’s cohesiveness and adaptability, they have also created some confusion due to their sheer volume. Delos has therefore compiled and categorised the relevant resources into a simple table available on its website, at https://delosdr.org/index.php/2020/05/12/resources-on-virtual-hearings/. Submitted by Mihaela Apostol, ArbitralWomen member, and Hafez Virjee, Delos President