2 July 2021

Claudia Salomon’s election as the first woman President of the ICC Court has won an award for the best development in international arbitration.

The Global Arbitration Review award was presented last night during a virtual Awards ceremony, which brought together practitioners from around the world. In a recorded acceptance speech, Ms Salomon said she was truly honoured to have been selected as the new President of the ICC Court by the Selection Committee of “international arbitration giants”, including the late Emmanuel Gaillard who passed away in April.

Echoing United States Vice-President Kamala Harris’s words, ”I may be the first woman in this office – but I will not be the last”, Ms Salomon said:

“Diversity is fundamental to the legitimacy of international arbitration. It ensures we reflect the entire global business community and their values. From SMEs to multinationals, we want people to see ICC as an essential partner – an institution that can help get them get out of a crisis and back to business.”

During the acceptance speech, Ms Salomon paid tribute to Alexis Mourre for his work during six years as President to achieve gender parity of the ICC Court and to establish a fully transparent process for the selection of his successor. Mr Mourre’s October 2020 speech on the use and misuse of bifurcation was also shortlisted for a GAR Award for best speech.

Thanking GAR and everyone who had voted, Ms Salomon committed to working with the ICC Secretariat, Court members and the wider institution to ensure that ICC lives up to its reputation as the leading international arbitral institution.

The Best Development in International Arbitration category also featured nominations for ICCs announcement of additions to its dispute resolution governing body in March and the approval of new ICC rules approved (October 2020). ICC was also nominated twice under GAR’s award category for Most Important Decision.

Ms Salomon’s acceptance speech was recorded as a staged telephone conversation with Michael McIlwrath, Chair of the ICC Dispute Resolution Services Governing Body, who had called Ms Salomon at 5:00 am to inform her of the ICC selection committee’s decision to put forward her name for formal election by the ICC World Council.

Watch the acceptance speech here.