As international arbitration has increased in prominence, the legal issues which are called for resolution are ever expanding. This includes taking us into territory which can make civil law practitioners feel distinctly uncomfortable; criminal law. Perhaps one of the most prominent examples of this was the World Duty Free v Republic of Kenya case; an ICSID case from 2006 which grappled with the issue of contracts procured through corruption. Since then bribery and corruption has become an increasingly prominent issue on questions of jurisdiction or admissibility.
The criminal/civil cross over continues to expand, especially as criminal behaviour is subject to increasing international regulation. Arbitrators or arbitration counsel may be expected to deal with a range of criminal issues, from money laundering to civil fraud to extradition to financial sanctions.
In this podcast we explore what lessons civil law practitioners may learn from criminal law advocates. Tim Owen QC speaks about his experience of conducting criminal cases where the facts are deeply unsympathetic and the stakes are high. We also discuss what obligations might be on an arbitrator to investigate when they harbour suspicions as to the legitimacy of the arbitration proceedings. And finally, we draw on Tim’s experience of acting for the Crown Prosecution Service in the Adamescu case to explore the direct clash between extradition and investment treaty proceedings.
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This podcast was recorded in July 2018.
Tim Owen QC is a highly regarded specialist in a wide range of practice areas that span the fields of fraud/regulatory, criminal, public, human rights, extradition/MLA, sports, asset recovery, police and civil law. He has acted in a wide range of business crime cases including market abuse, bribery/corruption, sanction offences, cartel offences, frauds of all kinds, insider dealing and other regulatory offences – both as a trial lawyer and as an appellate lawyer.
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