The UNCITRAL Model Law Workshop, co-organized by UNCITRAL Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific and CIArb East Asia Branch, was held in Shanghai on March 1, 2016.

The workshop was chaired by JT&N law firm and jointly sponsored by Hong Kong Arbitration Center of China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission, MOOT Shanghai, Singapore International Arbitration Centre and Hangzhou Arbitration Commission (HAC). Ms. Li Xuanle, Vice President of Hangzhou International Arbitration Court (HIAC), attended the meeting.

As the global arbitration legislation applied to 102 regions (including 72 countries), the Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration was legislated by the UN Commission on International Trade Law in 1985 and revised in 2006. The meeting was aimed for better understanding of the rules of the Model Law, and that of the application and practices of the law in different arbitration institutions based in like Hong Kong and Singapore. It was held also to clarify the key differences between the Model Law and China's arbitration system. Dr. Michael Hwang SC, Brenda Horrigan and Dr. Fan Yang were invited to give speeches at the workshop that focused on “The Understanding and Application of UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration”.

Dr. Michael Hwang SC started by  briefing about the background and history of the legislation of the Model Law, and then gave his analyses on the key terms and provisions such as Article 5 “Extent of court intervention”, Article 12 “Grounds for challenge”, Article 16 “Competence of arbitral tribunal to rule on its jurisdiction”, Article 17 “Power of arbitral tribunal to order interim measures”, article 19 “Determination of rules of procedure” and article 34 “Application for setting aside as exclusive recourse against arbitral award”.

Brenda Horrigan made a brief analysis on the differences between the Model Law and the arbitration rules observed by mainstream international arbitral institutions, and expounded the different cases in which the Model Law was applied to in different arbitral institutions worldwide.

Dr. Fan Yang gave a brief account of the Model Law and explored some specific applications of the law. He detailed his analysis on Article 7 “Definition and form of arbitration agreement”, Article 8 “Arbitration agreement and substantive claim before court” and Article 9 “Arbitration agreement and interim measures by court” respectively.

What the three speakers presented were considered a guide to better understanding the Model Law as well as its application and practice. In the meantime, questions were also raised about some perplexity in the practice, and to which accurate and meticulous answers were given by the speakers.