ICCA Guillermo Aguilar-Alvarez Memorial Prize
In memory of former ICCA Governing Board Member Guillermo Aguilar-Alvarez, whose untimely passing in July 2017 saddened friends and colleagues worldwide, ICCA has launched the ICCA-Guillermo Aguilar-Alvarez Memorial Prize. The Prize will be awarded biennially by ICCA during its Congress to the individual under 40 who has written the best published work on international arbitration, conciliation or other forms of dispute settlement over the past two years.
The inaugural ICCA-Guillermo Aguilar-Alvarez Memorial Prize was awarded to Professor Julian Arato for his paper entitled ‘The Private Law Critique of International Investment Law’. The announcement took place at a special ceremony held during the 2022 ICCA Congress in Edinburgh. Read more about the Prize-giving here and view Professor Arato's acceptance speech here.
The recipient of the second edition of the ICCA-Guillermo Aguilar-Alvarez Memorial Prize was Bálint Kovács. Mr. Kovács's winning paper, titled ‘Watch for the Ripples, Not Just the Splash: How the EU Position on Investment Arbitration Has Affected the Enforcement of Awards', was published in the Central European Journal of Comparative Law in 2022.
About the 2026 Prize
Information specific to the third edition of the ICCA-Guillermo Aguilar-Alvarez Memorial Prize will be available in due course.
How to Make a Contribution to the Fund
As a supporter of the ICCA-Guillermo Aguilar-Alvarez Memorial Prize, you can opt to make (1) a once-off donation; or (2) a regular donation over a period of time (daily, weekly, monthly or yearly).
Pledges to the Prize have already reached US$60,000, with a further US$60,000 targeted to help the Prize exist in perpetuity. While any amount is welcome, we encourage those who knew Guillermo and are looking for a more long-lasting way to honour his legacy to become a Patron of the Prize. Donors will be recognised as Patrons by ICCA (and associated with the Prize accordingly) when they commit to donate at least US$5,000, either once-off, or in a series of regular donations, e.g., a US$100 monthly commitment over 5 years.
If you would like to become a Patron of the Prize, please contact the ICCA Bureau (bureau@arbitration-icca.org).
Prize Terms and Conditions
- The ICCA-Guillermo Aguilar-Alvarez Memorial Prize (“Prize” or “Memorial Prize”) was established by ICCA Foundation, Inc. (“ICCA”) in January 2019 in memory of former ICCA Governing Board Member Guillermo Aguilar-Alvarez. This prize will ordinarily be awarded every two years for the best work (in the form of articles, essays, and individually-authored book chapters) on international arbitration, conciliation or other forms of dispute resolution published in the previous two years, as selected by an independent Advisory Board. The Prize seeks to further ICCA’s stated purpose of promoting and improving the process of arbitration, conciliation and other forms of international dispute resolution.
- The Prize will cover the recipient’s costs of attending the ICCA Congress in the year in which awarded, plus a modest honorarium. The costs of attending the ICCA Congress include: (1) a Congress registration fee waiver; (2) economy class travel to the Congress venue; and (3) hotel accommodation during the Congress. The costs (including the value of the fee waiver) and honorarium would ordinarily have a combined maximum value of USD 5,000. The costs of attending the ICCA Congress cannot be converted to cash by the winner if he or she is unable to attend the Congress for whatever reason.
- The Prize will be awarded by an Advisory Board appointed from time to time by the ICCA Board of Directors.
- All entries will be reviewed by a Special Committee of Readers made up of Young ICCA Members and appointed by the Young ICCA Co-chairs for each Prize (“Young ICCA Special Committee”). The Young ICCA Special Committee will be responsible for creating a shortlist of no less than 5 and no more than 10 entries, from which the Advisory Board will select the final winner. The Young ICCA Special Committee must include members from both academia and arbitral practice.
- The Memorial Prize will be awarded on an objective and non-discriminatory basis.
- Eligibility:
a. The Young ICCA Special Committee and Advisory Board will consider any eligible work submitted to them by an author, publisher, or other source.
b. Authors must be under the age of 40 years at the date of original publication of the work.
c. Authors may but need not be members of Young ICCA.
d. Each author may submit only one entry. If multiple works by a single author are submitted, the author will be contacted and asked to identify a single work for consideration.
e. Co-authored works may be submitted, provided that the co-authors are under 40 years of age at the date of original publication of the work. When submitting the work, the author(s) must state whether (1) the entry is submitted jointly and the co-authors elect to split the monetary value of the prize or (2) the co-authors have elected one of the co-authors to receive the prize. In the latter case, written consent must be submitted by the other co-author.
f. Entries should be either in English or be accompanied by a full English translation.
g. The Memorial Prize is open to authors of any nationality, race, colour and ethnic origin.
h. The choice of the recipient of the Memorial Prize is based solely on the judgment of the Young ICCA Special Committee and Advisory Board.
i. Any entrants that are related to ICCA Foundation, Inc. Board Members, ICCA NGO Governing Board Members, Memorial Prize Advisory Board Members, Young ICCA Co-Chairs, Young ICCA Special Committee and any individual involved in the decision-making process will be excluded from consideration. Related entrants include the spouses, siblings, spouses of siblings, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, ancestors, and spouses of children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of these individuals.
j. In the event that any entrant shares an institutional affiliation with a Young ICCA Special Committee or Memorial Prize Advisory Board Member (e.g., the same law firm, law faculty, or arbitral institution), that Young ICCA Special Committee or Advisory Board member will recuse him- or herself from participating in the relevant decision.
k. The recipient of the Memorial Prize is not required to perform any services to ICCA Foundation, Inc. or the ICCA NGO in return for the granting of the Prize. - All entries shall be submitted to the ICCA Bureau via an application form on the ICCA website before the deadline notified from time to time. Applicants should provide the following information: name of journal and date of publication; full name; nationality; place of residence; gender (male, female or prefer not to specify); proof of age; profession and employer; and contact details. By applying for the Prize, applicants agree to the terms of ICCA’s Privacy Policy as published on the ICCA website at www.arbitration-icca.org/icca-privacy-policy.
- Fund Administration: funds raised to establish and maintain the Memorial Prize will be paid directly to and administered by fund-manager “United Charitable” (registered in New York as a non-profit 501(c)(3)) (see https://www.unitedcharitable.org/).
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Addendum to Terms and Conditions for 2024 Prize
- The Advisory Board for the 2024 Prize includes representatives from ICCA, as well as former friends and colleagues of Guillermo Aguilar Alvarez, as follows:
a. Stefano Azzali;
b. Lise Bosman;
c. Donald Donovan;
d. Aloysius (Louie) Llamzon;
e. Silvia Marchili; and
f. Caline Mouawad. - The Young ICCA Special Committee for the 2024 Prize has been constituted as follows:
a. Courtney Furner;
b. Shirin Gurdova;
c. Maanas Jain; and
d. Sara Koleilat-Aranjo. - The 2024 Prize will be open for entries from 31 January 2023, with a closing date of 30 June 2023 at 23:59 CEST, for work published between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2022. The recipient of the 2024 Prize will receive funding to attend the 2024 ICCA Congress in Hong Kong from 5 – 8 May 2024.
- The ICCA Bureau will be responsible for reimbursing the successful recipient’s travel, accommodation and Congress registration and providing their honorarium (ordinarily to a maximum combined value of USD 5,000).
Advisory Board
- Stefano Azzali
- Lise Bosman
- Donald Donovan
- Aloysius (Louie) Llamzon
- Silvia Marchili
- Caline Mouawad
Young ICCA Special Committee (2024 Prize)
- Rohit Bhat
- Shirin Gurdova
- Maanas Jain
- Sara Koleilat-Aranjo
- Julio Rivera Rios
Premio Guillermo Aguilar Alvarez
The Arbitration Center of Mexico (CAM) has also established a prize in memory of Guillermo. This prize will be awarded to works published in Spanish. For more information, please visit: https://camex.com.mx/premio-guillermo-aguilar-alvarez/