The article examines in depth the method of establishing the content of the applicable law in international arbitration proceedings. Specifically, this study encompasses a three-level analysis of the topic. Firstly, it explores the theoretical underpinnings and the various approaches articulated in legal theory to the establishment of the content of the applicable law in international litigation and arbitration. Secondly, on the basis of an elaborate comparative review of the various legal regimes and jurisprudence in the most frequently selected venues of arbitration, it challenges conventional wisdom by showcasing the emerging trend toward the application of a “facultative” jura novit arbiter principle in international arbitral proceedings. Thirdly, it delineates a clear modus operandi for arbitral tribunals and national courts reviewing arbitral awards in annulment proceedings and offers model clauses, arbitration rules, and national law provisions on the content-of-laws enquiry.
A Cypriot national born and raised in Athens, Soterios Loizou is also a lecturer in international commercial law at King’s College London and a fellow at Stanford Law School. Among other places, he has studied at the National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, the New York University School of Law, the University of Cambridge, Harvard Law School, and the Hague Academy of International Law.
The Prize honors the late Hans Smit of Columbia Law School and Andreas F. Lowenfeld of New York University School of Law, both renowned scholars in international litigation and arbitration. Previous winners of the Prize include eminent scholars and practitioners, such as Gary Born, Stephen Fietta QC, and Anthony Sinclair.