ANNOUNCEMENT
June 16, 2014
KLRCA & King’s College London – How Do Arbitral Tribunal’s Decide: Looking Inside the Black Box
14 June 2014 – No 12, Jalan Conlay opened its doors on a sunny Saturday evening in June to host an intriguing KLRCA Talk Series session titled ‘How Do Arbitral Tribunal’s Decide: Looking inside the Black Box’. The talk that was jointly organized with the illustrious King’s College London saw a large turn up; comprising of distinguished high court judges, prominent King’s College London alumni, established law practitioners from within the region as well as several aspiring law students.
The packed function hall had the pleasure of witnessing the impeccable David Caron, Dean of the Dickson Poon School of Law at King’s College London take stage to present a rare and insightful look into the absorbing world of Arbitral Tribunal decisions. This topic that is seldom spoken about in the global arbitrary landscape due to its sensitive nature, ensured the distinguished audience present were glued to their seats throughout the two hour session.
The highly decorated David Caron whose accolades include having served as a Commissioner with the Precedent Panel (E2) of the U.N. Compensation Commission in Geneva back in 1996 to 2003 and as the President of the American Society of International Law from 2010 to 2012 amongst others; brought up a series of philosophical and interesting points that expounded on the ‘black box’ notion of outsiders beyond the Arbitral Tribunal not being able to witness what goes on once the Tribunal eventually retires to make its final decision. Two of them being; how such awards are made given the aspect of cognitive psychology that has been coming into play in recent times and how individual complications from having three individuals from diverse backgrounds on the panel are overcome.
The riveting talk session was then taken over at the hour mark by High Court Judge, Dato John Louis O’Hara who moderated the engaging Question and Answer session. A series of compelling questions were directed towards David Caron. One particular question that stood out; covered the grounds of the role of cognitive bias and its interaction within the party of arbitrators. As time ticked down, a portion of the experienced audience managed to share a few institutional views of their own. The gripping talk session concluded with a fellowship that saw the alumni of King’s College London bonding further with their fellow law practitioners and attendees of the evening.