News / information

Pledge signatory the International Commercial Arbitration Court (ICAC) (Ukraine) recently published its 2020 Annual Report. It reported that, in 2020, the number of female arbitrators involved in ICAC cases reached an amazing 42.4%. This is a 5.9% on its 2019 statistics. Additionally, the ICAC also reported that 57.4% of the party appointments were women.The ICAC Annual Report 2020 is available to view at this link. (April 2021)

The Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA) has signed the ERA Pledge and signalled its commitment to gender diversity in international arbitration. The Middle East is a focus area for the Pledge having recently launched our Pledge Middle East Subcommittee and the support of the arbitral institutions is essential to driving progress forward in the region.

The European Commission signed the ERA Pledge in respect of its trade and investment dispute settlement activities on 18 December 2020. See the EC’s press release here and letter from the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission here (18 December 2020)

The ERA Pledge Middle East Subcommittee was launched in December 2020, as the fourth regional subcommittee of the Pledge following the Latin America, India and Africa subcommittees. The Middle East Subcommittee will promote the ERA Pledge across the international arbitration community in the Middle East. The steering committee is co-chaired by Prof Dr Nayla Comair-Obeid and Antonia Birt, and is composed of arbitration practitioners, in-house counsel, technical experts, arbitrators, and members of arbitral institutions, from several Middle Eastern jurisdictions and those further afield with a focus on Middle Eastern practice. The launch event for the Subcommittee is expected to take place in March 2021. (December 2020)

The ERA Pledge Middle East Subcommittee was launched in December 2020, as the fourth regional subcommittee of the Pledge following the Latin America, India and Africa subcommittees. The Middle East Subcommittee will promote the ERA Pledge across the international arbitration community in the Middle East. The steering committee is co-chaired by Prof Dr Nayla Comair-Obeid and Antonia Birt, and is composed of arbitration practitioners, in-house counsel, technical experts, arbitrators, and members of arbitral institutions, from several Middle Eastern jurisdictions and those further afield with a focus on Middle Eastern practice. The launch event for the Subcommittee is expected to take place in March 2021. (December 2020)

The Pledge Corporate Sub-committee has published a set of Corporate Guidelines for Implementation of the Pledge (available in English and Spanish).The Corporate Guidelines are aimed at providing corporate signatories with a framework for concrete steps to assist those wishing to implement the Pledge within their organisation. They can be adopted as and when appropriate, and to the extent appropriate, for each signatory. They are ‘best practice’ principles and do not form any binding commitment for signatories. The Corporate Guidelines were drafted by the Pledge Corporate Sub-committee (see members listed here) and are expressly supported by Airbus, Anglo American, BP, Burford Capital, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Omni Bridgeway, Shell and Vannin Capital. (26 November 2020)

A Checklist of Best Practices for the Selection of Arbitrators was launched by the Paris members of the Pledge Steering Committee in October 2020. The Checklist outlines the best practices, methods and tools available for selecting arbitrators, relying on objective criteria that promote both efficiency and diversity in arbitration. You can access a copy of the Checklist here in French and English, and more information is available here. (Please note, the survey at the end of this article is in French and meant for the time being for those based in France only.)(October 2020)

ERA Pledge launches Young Practitioners Subcommittee bringing its message of gender diversity to the new generations. The Press Release is accessible here. (14 September 2020)

The eighth volume of the ICCA Reports series, the ICCA Report of the Cross-Institutional Task Force on Gender Diversity in Arbitral Appointments and Proceedings, has been released. The Report shares a vision of how gender diversity can progress in the field and publishes recent statistics on the appointment of female arbitrators, as well as outlining best practices and opportunities to promote gender diversity in international arbitration. The report is accessible here. (29 July 2020)

The winner of the ERA Pledge GAR Award 2020, announced at the GAR Awards Ceremony on 9 July, is the LCIA for appointing 43% female arbitrators during 2018. The LCIA’s 2019 statistics are even better with the LCIA appointing female arbitrators in 48% of the appointments made by the institution. Congratulations to the LCIA! You can read the full list of very worthy nominees here. (17 July 2020)

On 23 June, a meeting of the Global Steering Committee took place using Microsoft Teams. About 40 members attended to discuss (i) the 2019 female arbitrator appointment statistics; (ii) ideas for future virtual events; and (iii) a round-up of the Pledge events and activities of the various regional members and sub-committees. It was fantastic to hear about all the great work being done across the different regions and plans for harnessing the new virtual world for future Pledge events. (23 June 2020)

Africa Sub-Committee update: the Africa Sub-Committee recently convened to discuss its formal launch event and agenda for the year ahead. The Sub-Committee is delighted to report that Africa now has the second highest number of signatories after Europe. (23 April 2020)

The Casablanca International Mediation & Arbitration Centre is pleased to announce it has officially joined the campaign for a more diverse and balanced international arbitration community (ERA Pledge). CIMAC’s Secretary General, Hicham Zegrary said “Diversity and Gender issues are part of CIMAC ‘DNA’. Both our Court of Arbitration and Secretariat are composed of peoples from all over the world. By signing the ERA Pledge, we commit ourselves to do more!!!”. (14 April 2020)

This year’s 27th Vis Moot was held as a Virtual Vis Moot for the first time. In the Opening Ceremony, Steering Committee member Patrizia Netal spoke about the ERA Pledge and equal representation (min 7:00 – 7:45). This year’s competition had a majority female panel in the final round including Jackie van Haersolte-van Hof and Prof Petra Butler. (9 April 2020)