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On May 19, 2008, CIETAC held the Three Rules Comparative Arbitration Scenario in Beijing in conjunction with Swiss Arbitration Association/Swiss Chambers (ASA) and the Hong Kong International Arbitration Center (HKIAC).
The Comparative Arbitration Scenario is designed to highlight specifics, similarities and differences of an arbitration conducted under the rules of the three arbitration institutions. It was carried out in form of moderated panel discussions, divided into four sessions, i.e. (1) the starting phase and the constitution of arbitral tribunal, (2) preliminary questions and organization, (3) submissions and evidence phase and (4) hearing, deliberation, award and costs. There were four to five subjects in each session, which were explained and commented by speakers representing three organizations according to their respective rules and practice. Interesting questions were evoked from the audience, which were discussed and answered by the speakers.
More than 150 persons registered in the Scenario including over 60 Chinese and foreign lawyers and over 40 in-house counsels of well-known foreign and Chinese enterprises. Many participants commented that the Scenario was a great success in accommodating their interests and concerns in arbitration practice. A commonly held opinion was that international commercial arbitration was playing an increasingly important role in dispute resolution and in turn to better protect the commercial interests of parties.
Other than the topic of arbitration, the recent disaster of earthquake in Sichuan province of China constituted a special part of the conference. In the Welcome Speech made by Mr. Yu Jianlong, Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of CIETAC, he especially proposed that all the participants should mourn for those who died in the earthquake and expressed his hope that more and more miracles of life could be made in the successive rescue. At 14:28 in the afternoon, the same time at which the earthquake burst out on May 12 2008, a three-minute silence was observed. All participants of the Scenario, Chinese or not, expressed their heartfelt condolence to the dead. Being held during the three-day National Mourning from May 19 to May 21 2008, the Scenario, aiming to promote arbitration as a dispute resolution mechanism, would make the participants not only remember the disaster, but also encourage them to work harder for a better life.
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