Replying to the Statements of the organizers of ICCA in Dublin on the statements of the Arab Association for International Arbitration
The board of the Arab Association for International Arbitration has reviewed the statements of the organizers of ICCA conference in Dublin 2008 published in GLOBAL in response to the press release issued by the Arab Association and which has invited the Arab jurists to boycott the inauguration session of the Dublin conference for marginalizing and ignoring the Arab legal culture. We would like briefly to answer back by the following: 1- The reply statement of the organizers of Dublin is full of contradictions; Referring to Prof. Gabrielle Kauffmann Kohler and Prof. Bernardo Cremades to state that the ICCA is not against the Arab legal culture is something granted… We have never said in our statement that ICCA, in its history, was against the Arab legal culture… The knowledge of the organizers of Dublin conference this year in international affairs is extremely limited, and the proof is how the Dublin conference was organized. 2- Those who issued the response statement to the Arab Association and who organized the Dublin conference are not successful lawyers. They referred to big names such as Prof. Kauffmann and Prof. Cremades to state that ICCA was open in all its history to all cultures and civilizations, everybody agree on that… it is us who said that the history of ICCA with its giants such as Jean Robert and Peter Sanders is inconsistent with the Dublin conference, its racism and ethnocentric view. However those who replied to our statements have not read it which gives a clear idea about their logic. 3- The board of the Arab Association for International Arbitration, and before issuing its statement on boycotting the Dublin conference, has made contact with: a- Prof. Giorgio Bernini b- Prof. Gabrielle Kauffman Kohler c- Prof. Bernardo Cremades d- Prof. Emmanuel Gaillard e- Me Serge Lazareff We have always referred to those symbols of dialogue between cultures and civilizations. We called them and informed them about our denial of the position of the Organizing committee of the Dublin conference and its methodology in preparing the conference that is inconsistent with the history of ICCA, its message, and its beliefs since its establishment, and they all were comprehensive to our point of view, especially Prof. Giorgio Bernini who also denied the methodology in organizing the ICCA conference and showed his support to us. Prof. Giorgio Bernini is the men of justice on all fields and he is the real image of ICCA. He was the president of ICCA, which was, during his mandate, the United Nations of Arbitration; however, the organizers of Dublin are transforming it into an isolated island.
This is the core of our statement, and do not turn your eyes on the goal and do not cover your mistakes with bigger ones. 4- Dublin is full of public relations, more then what it has in science and knowledge. The jurists who attend ICCA conferences give their culture and learn from the cultures of others… however, the program of the conference in Dublin is full of Public Relations, and this is new in the history of ICCA. 5- The reply of the Dublin conference gives us the right in all we said. They stated that the ICCA has organized several conferences in Bahrain, China, Japan, Korea, ect. Which is exactly what we stated, but we added that organizers of Dublin this year were not consistent with the history of ICCA and its message. They are a company of Public Relations which is inconvenient with the role of ICCA and enflames the feelings of many legal cultures and strikes the history of ICCA, its role, principles and message in the service of international arbitration. 6- When we called the giants of European Arbitration and who are open to all civilizations, there was an intention to review the Dublin program but we refused to do that because the press release had not a goal to change the names but to send a signal and a call for preventing in the future what is currently taking place and that ICCA returns to its message and role in the coming years. 7- Hence, the Apartheid conference for Arbitration will be held in Dublin and which has nothing to do with the history and values of ICCA. The Arab Association for International Arbitration Beirut – Abu Dhabi – Kuwait – Cairo – Tunisia – Algeria Damascus – Riyadh - Qatar