HKIAC Offers Tribunal Secretary Service

IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE
HKIAC Offers Tribunal Secretary Service

6 June 2014

HKIAC is pleased to announce the roll out of its tribunal secretary service for arbitrations administered by HKIAC and ad hoc arbitrations, as well as an accompanying set of guidelines on the use of tribunal secretaries.

Recognising the growing market demand for tribunal secretaries and the significant value they can add to the arbitral process, HKIAC is now making members of its Secretariat available to perform the function of tribunal secretary in HKIAC and ad hoc arbitrations concerning either commercial or investor-state disputes.

HKIAC is one of a comparatively small number of institutions to provide such service. Michael Moser welcomes these changes and says, “The HKIAC's new tribunal secretary service should prove to be an attractive offering for arbitration users in Hong Kong. Tapping into the Secretariat's talent and experience pool, the scheme provides a mechanism to enhance efficiency and reduce overall costs. I think it is a very welcome initiative.”

While HKIAC has already seen tribunal secretaries appointed in a number of its administered arbitrations, the express recognition of the appointment of tribunal secretaries in the 2013 HKIAC Rules and the strong support for the practice revealed by the recent ICCA Congress survey will facilitate further growth of the use of tribunal secretaries in arbitrations.  Against this background, HKIAC will now offer tribunals the opportunity to appoint a member of HKIAC's Secretariat as secretary to assist the tribunal, to save time and costs for parties, and to provide useful insights on HKIAC arbitral procedures at competitive rates.  An arbitral tribunal who wishes to appoint an HKIAC Secretariat member as a secretary should send a written request to HKIAC, who will endeavour to designate a suitable Secretariat member to assist the tribunal as soon as practicable.  Click here to find more information regarding how to make a request for HKIAC's tribunal secretary service.  

HKIAC has also launched its Guidelines on the Use of a Secretary to the Arbitral Tribunal, which can be adopted by parties to arbitrations administered by HKIAC under the HKIAC or UNCITRAL Rules or in other cases. The Guidelines contain guidance on the appointment, challenge, duties and remuneration of tribunal secretaries, which can conveniently be adopted as the terms of appointment of a tribunal secretary. A copy of the Guidelines can be found at here.

The tribunal secretary service is the latest addition to the wide range of world-class dispute resolution services offered by HKIAC and reflects the Centre’s long-standing commitment to assisting its users in resolving disputes in a timely and cost effective manner. Henri Alvarez QC, Partner of Fasken Martineau, comments that “the value of tribunal secretaries is increasingly recognised by parties and arbitrators in international arbitration. HKIAC’s tribunal secretary service is introduced in response to the needs of the global arbitration community. The centre’s newly implemented guidelines reflect the modern practice of the use of tribunal secretaries and address directly many potential concerns associated with this practice. With these guidelines in place and the highly capable Secretariat members, HKIAC has no doubt increased its appeal for commercial and treaty arbitration cases.” Singaporean arbitrator Christopher Lau SC also welcomes the new services, “HKIAC has to be commended for its initiative. It is yet another demonstration of its cutting edge capabilities in the provision of and support for arbitration services.”

Media Contact
Karen Tan
Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre
Tel: (852) 2525 2381
Fax: (852) 2524 2171
Email: karen@hkiac.org