YEREVAN, Armenia – From April 27 to 28, the American University of Armenia (AUA) Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Clinic and Master of Laws (LL.M.) program held the first Yerevan Arbitration Colloquium, a two-day forum on international commercial arbitration and investment law. The event brought together six leading international practitioners and scholars, a selected group of local professionals, and AUA’s LL.M. students in a candid and productive discussion on the field. The Colloquium was built around working sessions, open roundtables, and a closed evening session under Chatham House Rule, formats that encourage and prioritize honest conversations.
Day 1: Commercial Arbitration and Its Hard Questions
The first day started with a public conversation moderated by Adelaida Baghdasaryan, chair of the AUA LL.M. program, with leading practitioners and scholars of arbitration – Kaj Hobér, Grant Hanessian, Loukas Mistelis, Nata Ghibradze, Aida Avanessian, and Norair Babadjanian. They spoke about their paths to international arbitration, the decisions and choices that shaped their careers, the gap between how the field looks from the outside, and the inside, and what advice they would give to students pursuing a similar journey. The working session that followed, led by Hanessian, focused on four questions that commercial arbitration has stopped addressing: the efficiency and cost problem, the arbitrator pool and its concentration, the speed argument in a world where some civil law courts now outperform arbitration on both counts, and the practical record of Dispute Avoidance and Adjudication Boards. Aram Aghababyan (LL.M. ’18), CEO of CaseLens, delivered a presentation on artificial intelligence in arbitration practice, not as a future possibility but as a present reality, with concrete implications for how practitioners research, draft, and manage proceedings today. The day concluded with an off-the-record conversation about the state of arbitration in Armenia, the structural obstacles to its development, and the question of what can change.
Day 2: Investment Law and the Next Generation
The second day opened with a keynote by Mistelis on the origins, architecture, and trajectory of the investment arbitration system, a system that is under sustained pressure for two decades and continues to generate more questions than answers. The session continued the day’s subsequent discussions in their historical and institutional context.
Following the discussions, AUA LL.M. students and early-career researchers took the floor for the Young Practitioners Panel, presenting their current work on the central tension in contemporary investment arbitration: the right of states to regulate in the public interest against the obligations of protection that investment treaties impose. Following their presentation, they received constructive feedback from the practitioners. Moderated by Kristine Khanazadyan, chair of European and International Law at Yerevan State University, the session demonstrated precisely what the Colloquium was aimed to accomplish, which was to engage aspiring professionals in a discussion with experts in the field. Hobér then discussed questions on contemporary investment arbitration, the green transition and stranded assets, emergency arbitration, sanctions compliance, and investment screening. The Colloquium closed with a masterclass on teaching, writing, and building a career that spans both practice and scholarship.
What the Colloquium Revealed
International arbitration is at an inflection point where the efficiency and legitimacy concerns that have driven reform debates for the past decade are increasing. Namely, the green transition, the expansion of investment screening regimes, and the growing body of climate-related disputes are reshaping the landscape faster than the institutions and rules that govern it. Practitioners and scholars not recognizing these developments will face challenges. The off the record conversations about arbitration in Armenia, pointed to a set of structural issues that the local legal community hasn’t addressed publicly, such as, the trust deficit, the misuse of arbitration as an instrument of judicial reform, and the absence of a practitioner culture that recommends arbitration naturally and on its merits. These problems are the reasons why a jurisdiction with a solid legislative framework continues to underperform its potential. The student panel offered a unique insight with the quality of the research presented and the engagement of the students, showcasing their readiness for the journey they embarked on.
Looking Ahead
The success of The Yerevan Arbitration Colloquium will continue the discussions on commercial arbitration, investment law, and the development of the field in Armenia. The ADR Clinic and LL.M. program remain committed to creating spaces for these conversations.
Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia, affiliated with the University of California, and accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) in the United States. AUA provides local and international students with Western-style education through top-quality undergraduate and graduate degree and certificate programs, promotes research and innovation, encourages civic engagement and community service, and fosters democratic values.
