On Wednesday, 28 February 2024, the first seminar in thus year’s CRiL Research Seminar Series was held. The Centre for Research for Law had the pleasure to welcome Dr Hakeem Seriki, Associate Professor in Commercial/Trade Law at University of East Anglia, who delivered a very engaging and insightful talk titled “Fraud and International Arbitration in Light of P&ID Case: What Lessons must we learn?”.

Dr Seriki’s presentation examined the recent decision of the English High Court in P&ID case to set aside a London seated arbitration award because of how the award was procured. Dr Seriki highlighted the importance of this decision due to its implications for arbitration as a dispute resolution mechanism and concluded that the decision is one that the arbitral community must reflect on. His talk also considered what lessons State Governments and the arbitral community must learn from this decision.

The next research seminar will take place online, via MS Teams, on Wednesday, 13 March 2024 at 1.00 pm UK time (the event is in the UBBS calendar). The guest speaker is Dr Georgia Antonopolou. Assistant Professor at University of Birmingham’s Law School. She will be discussing “The ‘Arbitralization’ of Courts: The Role of International Commercial Arbitration in the Establishment and the Procedural Design of International Commercial Courts.” In her talk, Dr Antonopolou will explore, through a comparative analysis of different international commercial courts, how the competition with arbitration has prompted the establishment of these courts, and how arbitration has served as the inspiration for some of their most innovative features.

Everyone is welcome to attend and forward the invitation to the event. In case of any questions, please contact Dr Ana Harvey at ana.harvey@beds.ac.uk

For our second CRiL research seminar on Wednesday, 13 March 2024, we had the pleasure to host Dr Georgia Antonopoulou, Assistant Professor at University of Birmingham’s Law School.

Dr Antonopoulou discussed the phenomenon of the ‘arbitralization’ of courts, and specifically the role that international commercial arbitration has played in the establishment and the procedural design of international commercial courts.” In her informative and engaging talk, Georgia explored, through a comparative analysis of different international commercial courts, how the competition with arbitration has prompted the establishment of these courts, and how arbitration has served as the inspiration for some of their most innovative features. The recording of the seminar is available on MS Teams (for any questions, please contact cril@beds.ac.uk).

On Wednesday, 20 March 2024, the third seminar in this year’s CRiL Research Seminar Series was held.

The Centre for Research in Law had the pleasure to welcome Emeritus Professor in Media and Criminal Justice, Jon Silverman, from University of Bedfordshire.

Professor Silverman delivered a fascinating lecture on the “UK Law and Nazi Collaborators”, which provided a glimpse into his recently published book Safe Haven (OUP 2023), co-authored with Robert Sherwood, and sparked an engaging discussion and questions from the audience. The recording of the seminar is available on MS Teams (for any questions, please contact us at cril@beds.ac.uk).

On Wednesday, 10 April 2024, we had the pleasure to listen to Dr Henok Asmelash, Assistant Professor at University of Birmingham’s Law School.

Dr Asmelash provided a fascinating insight into “The New Frontiers of Trade and Environment Disputes at the WTO”.

In his thought-provoking presentation, Dr Asmelash examined a very topical - and controversial - issue of the emergence of trade and environment disputes over green industrial policies and their implications for the mutual supportiveness of trade and the environment amidst the existential crisis facing the WTO dispute settlement system. The recording of the seminar is available on MS Teams (in case of any questions, please contact cril@beds.ac.uk).