Judge Jan Paulsson, a Judge at the Court of Cassation in Bahrain and a member of the BCDR Court, delivered a thought-provoking keynote speech on the opening day of London International Disputes Week (LIDW). The event, which ran from 3 to 7 June 2024, welcomed delegates from over 100 countries and included a variety of high-profile sessions on international dispute resolution.
Judge Paulsson's keynote address was entitled "International Arbitration in the Year 2050 - Shipwrecked or Basking on the Shores of the Promised Land (Treading Water Not an Option)." In his speech, Judge Paulsson raised critical concerns about the current state and future direction of international arbitration. He discussed the increasing length and complexity of arbitration memorials and awards, attributing these issues to what he described as "endless over-lawyering" and a trend towards excessively lengthy documents. He noted that memorials, which were once succinct, have ballooned to hundreds of pages, a shift he attributed to a tendency for excessive research and cautious drafting by junior practitioners.
Accompanying Judge Paulsson at LIDW, on behalf of the BCDR, was Ahmed Husain, Acting CEO of BCDR. Together, they engaged with the broader international legal community in discussing advancements and challenges in dispute resolution.