CEPANI Arbitration Academy Kicks Off Its International Level Programme

Monday 28 September 2026 marked the start of the “International” tier of CEPANI’s now well-established Arbitration Academy series.  The series is tailor-made for practitioners who know their way around the rulebook and want to compare notes on the procedural and strategic questions that shape how a case runs in practice. 

As with last year’s “Advanced” cycle, this opening session struck that note from the very first slide.  Throughout the afternoon, Prof Olivier Caprasse and Prof Benoît Allemeersch, two eminent speakers who need no introduction to anyone who has spent more than a minute around arbitration, took the room through the salient changes in the latest ICC and CEPANI Rules, before facilitating an exchange on best practices on the delicate business of choosing and being an arbitrator, and on a selection of procedural headaches that every practitioner faces sooner or later.

The 2026 ICC and CEPANI Rules

The afternoon opened with a brisk tour of the newly revised ICC and CEPANI Rules, in force as of 1 June 2026.  Highlights included:

•     the ICC’s move to make Terms of Reference optional, alongside its new highly expedited provisions and early determination procedure;

•     the nuances of how both sets embrace electronic signature of awards, with a timely note of caution to consider whether the enforcement forum may still require a wet-ink original;

•     a renewed focus on mediation under the new CEPANI Rules; and

•     the use of arbitral secretaries, covering party consultation, independence, and permissible tasks, and drawing a bright line at any delegation of the Tribunal’s decision-making power. 

The Arbitrator

Turning to the people at the heart of the process, the speakers shared a candid set of “do’s and don’ts” in the appointment process for parties and prospective arbitrators alike, addressing amongst other topics the permissible scope of ex parte interviews and the care needed when a candidate presents their expertise and its relevance to the case.  The session also considered the appropriate timing and depth of assessing and disclosing potential conflicts of interest under the 2024 IBA Guidelines and applicable institutional rules.  Rather than working through rigid checklists, the speakers anchored the discussion in a series of case studies pitched at the grey areas, which participants debated with a view to distilling workable rules of thumb for arbitrators:  

How should an arbitrator approach an appointment where they have published or are about to publish on a central question in dispute?  When do repeat appointments call for disclosure?  When it comes to professional acquaintances, how close is too close?  What are the legitimate interests at play on both sides of the ledger when deciding whether to withdraw?  Etc.

Procedural Pressure Points

The final leg of this session explored some of the less obvious corners of procedural design, with a strong practical bent:

•     dealing with the language of the proceedings and the taking of evidence in procedural orders;

•     weighing the gains and drawbacks of bifurcation;

•     settling the standards applicable to interim relief at the outset;

•     the merits of intermediate case management conferences; and more.

Conclusion

This session was a thoroughly engaging opener, and Prof Caprasse and Prof Allemeersch deserve warm thanks for combining academic rigour, expertise, as well as a generous helping of anecdotes from the trenches. 

The “International” programme will continue on 12 November 2026 with a session on enforcement, document production and confidentiality led by Prof Jean-François Tossens and Ms Athina Fouchard Papaefstratiou, followed on 10 December 2026 by a closing session on international investment law and arbitration with Prof Eric De Brabandere and Ms Erica Stein.