Eric Bergsten honoured by ICCA

ICCA is proud to announce the creation of the ICCA Award for Lifelong Contribution to the Field of International Arbitration, which was awarded to its first recipient Professor Eric Bergsten in Vienna on 22 March.

Prof. Bergsten enjoyed a long career at UNCITRAL before founding the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Competition in 1993, which has grown to be the biggest and most successful event of its kind. ICCA President Jan Paulsson states: “Eric Bergsten's genial idea was quickly transformed into conclusive proof of arbitration's appeal to the cosmopolitan generation which will determine the patterns of future practice: an appeal which is essential to its survival.” Speaking inside the Viennese Konzerthaus on 22 March, ICCA Governing Board Member Neil Kaplan presented the award to Prof. Bergsten, saying “Eric Bergsten’s long career in the law has been matched by a retirement job which has enriched the lives and education of thousands of law students from different legal and cultural backgrounds from all over the globe. As the ‘father’ of this great event, the Vis Moot, he is truly a most worthy recipient of this award and we express our deep gratitude for his foresight, dedication and humour.”

In addition to the ceremony in Vienna, Prof. Bergsten will be honoured during the 2014 ICCA Congress in Miami, with an announcement and the showing of a short filmed interview. Lucy Reed, head of the Programme Committee for the 2014 ICCA Congress, is looking forward to the occasion: "No one has done more than Eric Bergsten to inspire, integrate and promote young arbitration practitioners.  We owe him immense gratitude."

A filmed interview with Professor Bergsten will be made available on the ICCA website in May.