The 30th anniversary of the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and a proposed bilateral arbitration treaty are among the topics up for discussion by a world-leading international arbitrator and litigator visiting New Zealand this week.
Gary Born acted as counsel for Greenpeace in the Greenpeace v France arbitration, which resulted in an award of damages in favour of Greenpeace.
He also acted as lead counsel in the 2009 Abyei Arbitration – concerning Abyei area boundaries
– at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.
Born is one of only two lawyers in the world, and the only lawyer in London, to receive global "starred" status in
Chambers rankings for international arbitration.
He is visiting New Zealand this week as part of the New Zealand Centre of International Economic Law’s (NZCIEL) inaugural senior visiting research fellowship for 2015.
His recent initiative, a bilateral arbitration treaty regime that aims to address adverse consequences businesses are facing because of the international litigation system structure, will be discussed with government representatives and businesses.
He is also set to give a number of public lectures, co-hosted by
Victoria University of Wellington (VUW).
Tonight he will speak about the Rainbow Warrior case, 30 years later, at
VUW.
The event will also include a panel discussion with Dominique Prieur, Sir Kenneth Keith, Bill Mansfield, Sir Geoffrey Palmer and Dr Penelope Ridings.
Tomorrow night, also at VUW, he will host a public forum discussing the bilateral arbitration treaty regime.
Then from Wednesday, 6 May, he will be in Auckland, speaking at the Northern Club at 7.15am, and then discussing the bilateral arbitration treaty regime at a roundtable event at Meredith Connell at 7.30pm.
NZCIEL director, professor Susy Frankel, said the centre’s inaugural fellowship recognised the significant contribution Born has made to international commercial arbitration and litigation.
“It's a wonderful opportunity for those interested in international dispute resolution to hear from someone of Mr Born’s calibre—and to consider his insights from the New Zealand perspective.”
