On 19 November 2019, Dr. Shahrizal Mohd Zin, a fellow of CIArb (Chartered Institute of Arbitrators), Malaysia was invited to attend and speak at the CIArb book launch event that was held at Bentham House, University College London (UCL). The book is a belated celebration of the CIArb first hundred years of establishment. The launch of CIArb’s new book entitled ‘A Brand New World: The Evolution and Future of Arbitration’ was highly successful where over 130 attendees, including students and practitioners enjoyed hearing directly from two panels of authors as well as the editors. The first panel of four authors spoke on topics with a future looking theme and was chaired by editor, Rowan Planterose. The second panel was moderated by editor John Tackaberry QC. This second panel was represented by four authors who spoke on issues globally affecting arbitration practice. Dr. Shahrizal Mohd Zin spoke on the intersection between culture and arbitration. He has contributed a chapter entitled ‘Setting the Stage for a New Century: Global Arbitration in the Making’. In this chapter, he observed how growing domestic legislative developments on international arbitration have affected legal culture in many jurisdictions. On this basis, he predicted that there will be a convergence in legal culture towards a more harmonised jurisprudence in relation to international arbitration. Nevertheless, one should not overlook the challenges from ethnocentric approach. The practice of med-arb and broad interpretation of public policy could lead to a rocky road in paving the way for global arbitration culture. The topics presented sparked vigorous questions and debates from both the panel chairs and audience members during the two open question and answer sessions. This book looks forward to the next hundred years and bravely seeks to predict the ways in which disputes in a variety of fields, mostly new, will come to be resolved by arbitration.
“Reconnect the World with Internationalisation and Global Networking”
Written by: Dr. Shahrizal Mohd Zin
Edited by: Dr. Nur Ezan Rahmat