katia fach | University of Zaragoza (original) (raw)

Papers by katia fach

Altair Magazine, 2024

Hace más de 130 años que el presidente colombiano Holguín regaló a la reina de España una extrao... more Hace más de 130 años que el presidente colombiano Holguín regaló a la reina de España una extraordinaria colección de piezas de oro precolombino. Desde entonces, Colombia ha impulsado diversas iniciativas para conseguir su restitución. Pese a ello, el conocido en España como Tesoro Quimbaya se sigue exhibiendo en un museo madrileño. En la actualidad, un creciente y controvertido movimiento de descolonización museística parece estar impulsando un acercamiento de ambos gobiernos por lo que respecta a estas excepcionales piezas. Por primera vez, motivaciones identitarias y simbólicas podrían hacer mella en el argumentario jurídico español en torno a su lícita titularidad del Tesoro Quimbaya.

Katia Fach Gómez and Catharine Titi (eds), The Award in International Investment Arbitration (Oxford University Press 2024)., 2024

This paper discusses the increasing use of new technologies in investment arbitration, focusing s... more This paper discusses the increasing use of new technologies in investment arbitration, focusing specifically on technology's role in investment awards. It shows how current awards bear witness to the daily use of what is known as utilitarian technology in arbitration proceedings. This is reflected in multiple references in the awards themselves, which cover matters as varied as: filing the request for arbitration electronically, the widespread use of communication technology among arbitration actors, non-presential case management conferences, the electronic submission of documents, remote hearings and deliberations, electronic signatures and transmission of awards. The question as to whether any of the technological elements referred to in arbitration awards themselves might currently be considered a minimum form requirement for investment arbitration awards is also raised. Arbitrators' and arbitral secretaries' use of technologywhether utilitarian or disruptive-when creating the content of investment awards is likewise analysed in this chapter. AI-led tools may not be expressly mentioned in award texts, but their use certainly has a practical impact on the awards' final configuration, which is why this chapter reflects on the appropriateness of resorting to measures to prohibit AI or imposing on arbitrators a duty to disclose AI usage when they draft awards.

Springer, 2023

Arbitration is facing revolutionary changes due to new technologies’ irruption into the entire ar... more Arbitration is facing revolutionary changes due to new technologies’ irruption into the entire arbitration proceeding. Wide-ranging technical-legal concepts such as e-discovery, e-hearing, cyber-security protocol, e-deliberations, algorithmic decision-making and digital signing have become part of life. Technology’s impact on arbitration is unlikely to decrease after the COVID crisis; on the contrary, how the arbitration community positions itself vis-à-vis technology will be a key factor in determining arbitration’s future. Faced with this challenging scenario, the book discusses a novel legal topic: arbitrators’ relationship with this increasingly ubiquitous, rapidly-changing technology.
This innovative book applies journalism’s “5 W questions” to the underexplored issue of arbitrators’ digital competence. It reaches a workable definition of what digital competence in the current arbitration context is, also providing answers to the essential question of why arbitrators’ digital competence is relevant from legal and financial points of view. Attention then shifts to who, with reflections on arbitrators working in a highly technological context and clarification of their relationship with other legal and non-legal actors. The book equally offers an in-depth comparative study of the question of where arbitrators’ technological competence is regulated, with critical analysis of soft and hard law provisions that may impose a digital competence duty. Finally, the book specifies when arbitrators need to be digitally competent and develops legal proposals regarding key procedural stages (initial conference, hearings) and legal topics (cybersecurity, data protection).

The first study to scrutinise the rapidly changing relationship between arbitrators and technology, the book aims to spark a crucial debate among practitioners and scholars. Academically rigorous and using the latest legal material, it emphasises arbitrators’ needs, rights and duties in our technological age, presenting them alongside carefully selected practical topics. The unprecedented and well-grounded proposals for arbitrators’ digital competence are intended to be a call to action for its broad target audience.

Traducción al castellano de la 9ª edición de la obra de Matthias Herdegen. Traducción elaborada ... more Traducción al castellano de la 9ª edición de la obra de Matthias Herdegen. Traducción elaborada por Katia Fach Gómez Laura Carballo Piñeiro y
Dieter Wolfram

Revista Facultad de Derecho y Ciencias Políticas, 2010

En Latinoamérica se viene apreciando una actitud crecientemente hostil hacia el sistema de soluci... more En Latinoamérica se viene apreciando una actitud crecientemente hostil hacia el sistema de solución de conflictos en materia de inversiones internacionales auspiciado por CIADI. Este artículo reflexiona sobre esta realidad y propone un decálogo de medidas que permitirían conciliar la existencia de ICSID con las reclamaciones de Latinoamérica en pos de un sistema que sea más favorable para los países en vía de desarrollo. Palabras clave: Latinoamérica, inversiones internacionales, arbitraje de inversiones, Centro Internacional de Arreglo de Diferencias Relativas a Inversiones, órgano arbitral regional.

Confilegal, 2021

The Autonomous Community of Aragon has implemented a legislative and training project that focuse... more The Autonomous Community of Aragon has implemented a legislative and training project that focuses on the prevention and out-of-court resolution of conflicts that may arise within the entrepreneurship framework . The ultimate objective of this initiative is to increase the survival rate as well as promote the scalability of Spanish business initiatives. The creation of the figure of the entrepreneurial mediator is a new manifestation that the Spanish business sector needs the specialized and flexible support offered by Alternative (and Adequate!) Conflict Resolution Methods (MASC).

Revista electrónica de …, 2011

Revista General de Derecho Europeo número 55, 2021

This paper begins by presenting some of the main assessments of this controversial EU-China "agre... more This paper begins by presenting some of the main assessments of this controversial EU-China "agreement in principle", and also weighs up the text's chances of coming into force. The fact that, according to scholars, the bidirectional FDI flows between the EU and the PRC are still underdeveloped does not seem to be a good enough reason for all EU institutions to endorse its CAI approval on a political level. Section III reflects on the possible reasons why the Comprehensive Agreement, despite its name, did not cover an issue as essential as ISDS from the outset, instead relegating it to later negotiations between the two parties. Seven very diverse hypotheses are addressed by this paper on the above referred absence (ranging from a mere question of time to problematic unilateral strategies, and including bilateral decisions reached on the basis of various possible grounds). Section IV reflects on the possible content of the EU-China Agreement on Investment Dispute Settlement. A very wide range of possibilities opens up again at this point (a permanent standing two-tier mechanism with full-time adjudicators; a multilateral permanent appellate mechanism; a Sino-European mechanism for settling investment disputes; an Asia-centred dispute settlement mechanism linked to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank; existing Chinese-led arbitration mechanisms, and the enhancement of other ADR mechanisms). Section V deals with the fact that the BITs that China has signed with almost all EU countries in recent decades are applicable to the claims that Chinese and EU investors could raise before the entry into force of the EU-China IDS Agreement. This section also explains the negative consequences of this supposedly transitory situation and makes a case for completing the IDS negotiations promptly and effectively.

XVIII Anuario de los Cursos de Derechos Humanos de Donostia-San Sebastian , 2019

This paper reflects on the role granted to human rights in the current system of inversor-state d... more This paper reflects on the role granted to human rights in the current system of inversor-state dispute settlement. It analyzes a good number of investment awards and last-generation International Investment Agreements

Handbook of International Investment Law and Policy, 2021

An "ethics explosion" is emerging in the international investment arena in many different ways. A... more An "ethics explosion" is emerging in the international investment arena in many different ways. Along with the EU's strong desire to regulate the ethical aspects of adjudicators' duties in its latest generation of IIAs, whether already in force or still under negotiation, a growing number of non-European IIAs and Model Agreements also contain provisions that include references to ethics and sometimes additionally provide a code of conduct for investment adjudicators. As a logical consequence of this, ICSID, hitherto the heavyweight par excellence in the investment resolution field, has also underlined the growing importance of ethical issues in the course of its ongoing rule amendment process. In the same vein, since 2017, the UNCITRAL Working Group III has been reflecting on the need for and potential content of an Investor-State Dispute Settlement Reform and has devoted special attention to ISDS court members. As the winds of change are pointing towards the creation of a Multilateral Investment Tribunal, the need

Fach Gómez, Katia, “Chapter 2. The Duty of Disclosure of International Arbitrators” in Fach Gómez, K., Key Duties of International Investment Arbitrators. A Transnational Study of Legal and Ethical Dilemmas, Springer, 2019

The duty of disclosure that falls to investment arbitrators currently presents a significant numb... more The duty of disclosure that falls to investment arbitrators currently presents a significant number of contentious aspects. Many ICSID challenges have addressed issues such as the formal aspects and content of the statement of impartiality and independence, as well as the scope of this duty and the applicable disclosure standards. A detailed analysis of the decisions resulting from these challenges leads to the conclusion that the unchallenged co-arbitrators, who are in most cases responsible for settling challenges brought by parties, may have sometimes erred on the side of leniency when judging their colleagues' actions or omissions in connection with the duty of disclosure. In practice, the very wording of ICSID provisions and a sense of endogamy among the somewhat limited group of arbitrators are two factors that have prevented breaches of this duty from being sanctioned with disqualification. This chapter sets out and argues for a series of regulatory reforms that seek a firmer reshaping of the profile of the duty of disclosure within the context of investment arbitration (e.g., improving formal aspects of the statement of impartiality and independence and making changes to the drafting of ICSID Rule 6(2)b, as well as various suggestions concerning the timing, celerity and addressees of the duty of disclosure). The chapter also contains detailed reflections on two closely connected issues: the importance of having access to a reliable CV for each investment arbitrator and the arbitrators' duty to investigate. A recurrent underlying theme is the role that traditional arbitral institutions or new stakeholders such as the Multilateral Investment Court (MIC) should adopt vis-à-vis the adjudicators' duty of disclosure in the investment milieu.

Fach Gómez, Katia, “Chapter 3. The Duty of Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest in International Investment Arbitration” in Fach Gómez, K., Key Duties of International Investment Arbitrators. A Transnational Study of Legal and Ethical Dilemmas, Springer 2019, 2019

This chapter offers some reflections on conflicts of interest in the international investment mil... more This chapter offers some reflections on conflicts of interest in the international investment milieu and their relationship with the duty of disclosure. Special attention is paid to IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest in International Arbitration, and its present and future relevance in the investment context. The chapter also focuses on three highly controversial issues of the contemporary ISDS system: repeat appointment, issue conflict and multiple hatting.

Titi/Fach, Mediation in International Commercial and Investment Disputes, Oxford University Press, 2019., 2019

The purpose of this chapter is to reflect on the role currently played by mediation in the resolu... more The purpose of this chapter is to reflect on the role currently played by mediation in the resolution of international commercial disputes. This objective is both broad and ambitious and the chapter benefits from the fact that this book contains over a dozen contributions from prestigious authors in the mediation sector who adroitly address a broad range of aspects of international commercial mediation. The chapter’s main focus is consequently the outlining and discussing of a specific series of issues that aim to complement the analysis developed by the other contributors in this edited volume.
Section II therefore explores the new meaning that some scholars have attached to the widely used acronym ADR (alternative dispute resolution). Considering mediation an important part of the ‘appropriate dispute resolution’ mechanisms available to commercial disputants suggests that a new light is shining through this important sector and the principles that it embraces, such as access to justice. This central idea is developed in Section III, which addresses various highly topical issues in the framework of commercial mediation: the dilemma of compulsory mediation in non-family contexts; the impact of developments in information and communication technology on the mediation milieu; the role of ethics in the contemporary mediation world, and the structure and main objectives of training schemes in international commercial mediation. Section IV concludes the discussion and leads on to the thematic studies of international commercial mediation.

LEGAL OBSTACLES TO INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENTS IN VENEZUELA AND ANTI-CORRUPTION POLICY

This article begins by presenting some recent statistical data on rule of law, investment, and co... more This article begins by presenting some recent statistical data on rule of law, investment, and corruption in Venezuela. It focuses afterwards on analysing the 2014 Venezuelan Anti-Corruption Law, and it develops various arguments that may lead to question this Law ́s real objectives from an international investment ́s perspective. The paper reflects on whether the current Venezuelan government might use this 2014 Anti-Corruption Law against foreign investors. The cataclysm that the country is currently experiencing does not bode well for international investments.

Diversidad y género en el arbitraje internacional: entre los hechos y los anhelos, 2017

This chapter shows how women and other minorities are clearly underrepresented in the professiona... more This chapter shows how women and other minorities are clearly underrepresented in the professional context of international arbitration. After presenting some of the measures implemented in recent years to remedy this kind of discrimination, this chapter proposes a number of additional measures that, if put into practice, may generate beneficial synergies in the international arbitration world. A final reference is outlined on the issue of gender and diversity in the future Multilateral Investment Court.

Diversity and the Principle of Independence and Impartiality in the Future Multilateral Investment Court (MIC), 2018

This article starts from the assumption that the future Multilateral Investment Court (MIC) will ... more This article starts from the assumption that the future Multilateral Investment Court (MIC) will be shaped by a new and different type of international investment adjudicator (IIA), and it focuses on the diversity issues that will need to be addressed during the court’s creation. In this article, diversity is understood in a broad sense that includes questions related to IIA gender, race, geographical origins and legal background. The article argues that diversity may in fact evolve into one of the MIC’s key collective composition rules. It also sets out some of the grounds in favour of diversity in the MIC, and considers the specific ways in which diversity may permeate the constituent process for the MIC roster and its modus operandi. A further common thread is provided by the links between diversity and the principle of independence and impartiality, which will be a crucial MIC duty.

LA CREACIÓN Y EL FUNCIONAMIENTO DE LOS TRIBUNALES COMERCIALES INTERNACIONALES: ESTUDIO DE SUS EFECTOS EN EL ÁMBITO DEL ARBITRAJE COMERCIAL INTERNACIONAL, 2019

Este capítulo centra su atención en los tribunales comerciales internacionales, una figura jurídi... more Este capítulo centra su atención en los tribunales comerciales internacionales, una figura jurídica novedosa -especialmente en el contexto europeo- y que presenta fascinantes retos para disciplinas como el Derecho internacional privado (DIPr). El objetivo último del presente capítulo es reflexionar sobre los diversos tipos de interacciones que pueden darse entre los referidos international commercial courts y la Convención de Nueva York sobre el reconocimiento y la ejecución de las sentencias arbitrales extranjeras (CNY). Aparte de dejar constancia de que existen recientes y controvertidas creaciones, como la posibilidad de convertir la sentencia de un tribunal comercial internacional -concretamente, de los DIFC courts- en un laudo arbitral que aspira a beneficiarse del mecanismo de reconocimiento y ejecución instaurado por la CNY, este capítulo considera igualmente otros posibles puntos de contacto entre los sectores del arbitraje internacional y la litigación internacional. Así, se recapacita sobre si la “cuota del mercado jurídico global” que desean adquirir los tribunales comerciales internacionales depende de la implantación a nivel internacional de un mecanismo de reconocimiento y ejecución de sentencias que emule los aspectos exitosos de la CNY. Ello a su vez conecta con otra relevante cuestión: el papel de las organizaciones internacionales jurídicas (UNCITRAL, Conferencia de La Haya, etc.) en el desarrollo del arbitraje comercial y la litigación internacional.

Rethinking the Role of Amicus Curiae in International Investment Arbitration: How to Draw the Lin... more Rethinking the Role of Amicus Curiae in International Investment Arbitration: How to Draw the Line Favorably for the Public Interest

The intervention of amicus curiae in investment arbitration is a matter of great interest and it will continue generate a legal debate in the future. In the wake of multiple courts and some tribunals, several rules on investment arbitration have increasingly recognized the possibility that the general interest is protected through amicus submissions. The fact that a party of the investment arbitration is a state and problems transcend the interests of the specific parties involved in the arbitration justify the progressive implementation of the principle of transparency, which has been traditionally rejected in commercial arbitration, in the field of investment arbitration.The acceptance of the institution of amicus curiae in BITs and arbitration rules has resulted recently in various NGOs submitting amicus briefs in relevant international arbitrations. Additionally, UNCITRAL and ICC are currently developing two projects in the field of investment arbitration that are going to address the issue of amicus briefs. Taking all of this data as reference, this Note reflects on the most appropriate regulation of the institution of amicus curiae. This means taking into account a multiplicity of factors, both internal -concerning the content and the submission process- and external -referring to the relationship of these non-parties with other participants in investment arbitration-. The approach taken regarding this regulation is multiple, since the institution of amicus curiae is controversial. Against the multiple benefits preached mainly by NGOs, investors believe that the acceptance of amicus curiae brings various injustices. The proposal advocated by this Note is twofold. On the one hand, the acceptance of unsolicited amicus briefs should be governed by a set of criteria able to block any submission that do not benefit the outcome of arbitration and are excessively detrimental to the parties and arbitrators of the investment dispute. On the other hand, institutions managing investment arbitrations could establish an new institution exclusively and permanently dedicated to defending the collective interest. This proposal, although suggestive, would imply a major change in the system and therefore their perspectives of success would possibly materialize in the medium to long term.

The legal system has a crucial preventive and corrective role to play regarding environmental dam... more The legal system has a crucial preventive and corrective role to play regarding environmental damage. To this end, together with measures adopted in other legal areas such as administrative, criminal or civil law, both public and private international law are also a source of solutions for dealing with environmental liability in cases that go beyond purely domestic matters. This entry is written from the private international law perspective and primarily focuses on how the jurisdiction and the law applicable to environmental damage cases are determined in the European context. After briefly presenting the jurisdictional issues (art 5(3) of the Brussels Convention (Brussels Convention of 27 September 1968 on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters [1986] OJ C 298/1, (consolidated version) [1998] OJ C 27/1); the Brussels I Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters, [2001] OJ L 12/1); and art 7(2) Brussels I Regulation (recast) (Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (recast), [2012] OJ L 351/1), it covers the most relevant features of national conflict of law rules existing in this sector before the application of the Rome II Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 864/2007 of the European Parliament an of the

Altair Magazine, 2024

Katia Fach Gómez and Catharine Titi (eds), The Award in International Investment Arbitration (Oxford University Press 2024)., 2024

Springer, 2023

Revista Facultad de Derecho y Ciencias Políticas, 2010

Confilegal, 2021

Revista electrónica de …, 2011

Revista General de Derecho Europeo número 55, 2021

XVIII Anuario de los Cursos de Derechos Humanos de Donostia-San Sebastian , 2019

Handbook of International Investment Law and Policy, 2021

Titi/Fach, Mediation in International Commercial and Investment Disputes, Oxford University Press, 2019., 2019

LEGAL OBSTACLES TO INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENTS IN VENEZUELA AND ANTI-CORRUPTION POLICY

Diversidad y género en el arbitraje internacional: entre los hechos y los anhelos, 2017

Diversity and the Principle of Independence and Impartiality in the Future Multilateral Investment Court (MIC), 2018

LA CREACIÓN Y EL FUNCIONAMIENTO DE LOS TRIBUNALES COMERCIALES INTERNACIONALES: ESTUDIO DE SUS EFECTOS EN EL ÁMBITO DEL ARBITRAJE COMERCIAL INTERNACIONAL, 2019

Katia Fach G mez, ‘Artificial Intelligence in Investor State Dispute Settlement: A New World of Ethical Challenges for Legal Stakeholders?’ in Chiara Giorgetti and Catharine Titi (eds), Ethics and Investor- State Dispute Settlement (Brill 2024)., 2024

This chapter discusses how the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has permeated professional pra... more This chapter discusses how the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has permeated professional practice in the legal world as a whole, using a range of examples to illustrate its use, specifically in the international arbitration field. Examining the challenges currently presented by AI, and its flaws, leads to reflections on the need to be able to count on hard or soft law texts that address AI-generated ethical challenges. After arguing in favour of a regulatory approach in the Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) context, the chapter also contains a detailed legal analysis of recent initiatives such as the SVAMC Guidelines on the Use of Artificial Intelligence in International Arbitration.

International Investment and Latin America, 2019

After a brief introduction and a roadmap, this Chapter has presented an historical overview of in... more After a brief introduction and a roadmap, this Chapter has presented an historical overview of international investment and ISDS in Latin America, as well as the key Latin American complaints against ISDS. The Chapter has continued by focusing on various milestones that show an anti-ICSID stance that some Latin American states epitomize. Examples arising from domestic legislation and investor-state contracts has been presented, in addition to illustrations originating from IIAs and ICSID decisions. Along with these belligerent initiatives against the traditional ISDS system, Latin America is also the cradle of various initiatives analyzed by the present Chapter, which aim at implanting a new era in the resolution of investment controversies. Exponents of this trend are for instance the Brazilian CFIAs, the planned UNASUR Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes; CAITISA and the Southern Observatory on Investment and Transnational Corporations, and various IIA reform initiatives revolving around sustainable development.
Although there are other issues that would need to be addressed when studying FDI and ISDS in Latin America –such as the legal consequences of the unstoppable China´s investment in Latin American, or the impact of a US-centered economic nationalism in texts like NAFTA and TTP, an opportunity to do so will undoubtedly arise. Various recent political-economic events have made it very clear that the Latin American region will continue to be at the epicentre of the ISDS debate.

LA PROTECCIÓN DE LOS DERECHOS HUMANOS Y EL SISTEMA DE RESOLUCION DE CONTROVERSIAS DERIVADAS DE INVERSIONES INTERNACIONALES: NOTAS SOBRE UNA POSIBLE TRANSICIÓN HACIA UN TRIBUNAL MULTILATERAL DE INVERSIONES , 2019

1. Introducción; 2. El actual sistema de resolución de controversias derivadas de inversiones int... more 1. Introducción; 2. El actual sistema de resolución de controversias derivadas de inversiones internacionales: algunas ideas clave; 3. El encaje de los derechos humanos en el actual sistema de resolución de controversias derivadas de inversiones internacionales; 4. La relevancia creciente de los derechos humanos en escenarios jurídicos presentes y futuros: la nueva generación de Acuerdos Internacionales de Inversión y la posible creación de un Tribunal Multilateral de Inversiones; a) Derechos humanos en la nueva generación de Acuerdos Internacionales de Inversión b) Derechos humanos y la posible creación de un Tribunal Multilateral de Inversiones como alternativa al actual sistema de resolución de controversias derivadas de inversiones internacionales; 5. Consideraciones finales.

Los tribunales arbitrales de inversiones internacionales: algunas reflexiones en torno al mecanismo de recusación de sus árbitros, 2019

Este capítulo reflexiona sobre el mecanismo de recusación de los árbitros que dirimen las reclama... more Este capítulo reflexiona sobre el mecanismo de recusación de los árbitros que dirimen las reclamaciones derivadas de inversiones internacionales en el marco del Centro Internacional de Arreglo de Diferencias Relativas a Inversiones (CIADI). Más concretamente, el capítulo se inicia exponiendo cuál es el marco normativo concreto que rige en CIADI en materia de recusación de árbitros. A renglón seguido, el estudio presta atención a la casuística que la práctica arbitral de CIADI ha generado en dicha materia. Ello conduce a adentrarse a continuación en el examen de los aspectos controvertidos de la aplicación de la normativa CIADI en materia de recusación. Tras realizar un acercamiento a las actuales propuestas de enmiendas a las Reglas de CIADI y a otras modificaciones en materia de recusación que se están impulsando desde fuera del contexto de CIADI, este capítulo concluye con unos comentarios adicionales sobre cuál puede ser el futuro de la institución de la recusación de los expertos encargados de resolver las controversias derivadas de inversiones internacionales.

National courts and arbitration tribunals very often need to address scientific and/or technical ... more National courts and arbitration tribunals very often need to address scientific and/or technical aspects of a dispute. Arbitrators may rely on external competences - e.g., party-appointed experts or ex curiaexperts. However, nowadays there are also various areas of conflict resolution in which non-legal experts are part of the adjudicatory body, and internally provide with the required non-legal competences.[2] In the national judicial context, there are examples of specialized national courts -e.g., in the environmental dispute sector- where non-legal experts guarantee the non-legal expertise of judicial courts. In the international arbitral context, a compelling example of the appointment a scientific-technical expert as full arbitrator is provided by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the inter-State Indus Waters Kishenganga case. Non-legal neutrals are likewise relevant in commercial arbitration and in the broader field of ADR. In specialized areas such as disputes regarding construction, energy, engineering, financial services, technology and applied science cases, resorting to non-lawyers to resolve these type of disputes is a widely-used practice. It is also very remarkable that in the WTO dispute settlement system, by end of 2014, 44% of the panellists appointed have no legal background and 3 out of the 25 Appellate Body members appointed so far have no law degree.[3]

Comparative Law for Spanish–English Speaking Lawyers provides practitioners and students of law... more Comparative Law for Spanish–English Speaking Lawyers provides practitioners and students of law, in a variety of English- and Spanish-speaking countries, with the information and skills needed to successfully undertake competent comparative legal research and communicate with local counsel and clients in a second language. Written with the purpose of helping lawyers develop the practical skills essential for success in today’s increasingly international legal market, this book aims to arm its readers with the tools needed to translate unfamiliar legal terms and contextualize the legal concepts and practices used in foreign legal systems.