Course

Arbitration Rules in Practice

The course will take place from Tuesday, May 6, to Saturday, May 10, 2025.
Following a keynote speech on Tuesday, participants will enjoy two days of interactive classes (eight modules à two hours).

The course will mirror the structure of an (administered) arbitration and will discuss salient issues of international arbitration, in particular practical problems that might be encountered frequently. Throughout the course, the focus will lie on institutional arbitration proceedings. The last session on Thursday will consist of a mock organizational hearing. For successful completion of the course, participants will thereafter be asked to draft a Procedural Order No 1.

On Friday and Saturday, all participants will attend the Vienna Arbitration Days, the leading arbitration conference in Austria (registration fee included).

The course will cover the following topics:

• Keynote: N.N.
• Introduction: Niamh Leinwather, Paul Oberhammer 
  Difference between ad hoc and institutional arbitration (advantages, disadvantages)
• The Arbitration Agreement and Constitution of the Arbitral Tribunal: Valentina Wong, Stefan Riegler 
  The arbitration agreement in institutional arbitration including pre-scrutiny of the arbitration agreement
  • Personal qualities of the arbitrators
  • Number of arbitrators
  • Appointment of arbitrators
  • Challenge of arbitrators
  • Challenge procedure before the arbitral tribunal
  • Challenge procedure before the arbitral institution and before state courts
• Organization of Proceedings: Eliane Fischer, Frank Roth 
  This session focuses on the corner stones of the proceedings: the terms of reference, the specific procedural rules and the procedural timetable. We will look at best practices for ensuring smooth and efficient proceedings and at the many ways in which proceedings are derailed in practice.
  • Need for time and cost efficiency of the proceedings
  • Best practices and common stepping stones
  • The cornerstones of the arbitral proceedings: terms of reference, specific procedural rules and procedural timetable
  • Case Management Conference
  • Fast-track proceedings
  • Bifurcation and partial awards
  • Role of the administrative secretary
• The Hearing in Practice: Karl Pörnbacher, Désirée Prantl 
  How to structure a hearing in practice
• The Arbitral Award and Costs: Philipp Peters, Friederike Schäfer
  • Effects of an award
  • Drafting of an award (including counsel’s perspective)
  • Phrasing requests / dispositive section
  • Structure / elements of an award
  • Scrutiny
  • Cost considerations
  • Fixing of costs
• Evidence: Werner Jahnel, Doreothee Schramm
  • Means of evidence
  • Burden of proof
  • IBA Rules on the Taking of Evidence in International Arbitration 2010 (in particular: Articles 3 and 9)
  • Requests for document production:
    • Purpose and basis of document production
    • Should document production be proposed by the arbitral tribunal?
    • At what stage of the proceedings shall document production take place?
    • Use of Redfern Schedules
    • Alternatives to Redfern Schedules
    • Do’s and Don’ts for document production
• Multiparty Arbitration: Stefan Kröll, Patricia Shaughnessy 
  The arbitral tribunal’s management of multi-party arbitration, including ensuring procedural due process resulting in an enforceable award.
• Mock Organizational Hearing: Patrizia Netal, Helmut Ortner, Nikolaus Vavrovsky
  To provide details on how to structure PO1 followed by a mock organizational hearing

Participants who, following the Mock Organizational Hearing, hand in a draft of a Procedural Order No 1, will receive the University of Vienna-Austrian Arbitration Academy-VIAC practice diploma.