New York Convention Roadshow in San José, Costa Rica

The ICCA Judicial Dialogue was held at the Supreme Court of Costa Rica, San Jose on the 17th of February. The event was preceded by the ICC Costa Rica conference and followed by a special event at the University of Costa Rica. The Dialogue was co-organized with the International Arbitration Institute at Miami Law.

The Dialogue was conducted by Dyala Jimenez, Christina Diaz, Mag. Luis Guillermo Rivas, Roy Herrera from Costa Rica and Francisco Gonzalez de Cossio, Julieta Piedro Ovalle, Jan and Marike Paulsson.

With almost a hundred in attendance, the Dialogue was lively, passionate with interesting remarks from the members of the judiciary. Costa Rica has proven to be an arbitration friendly jurisdiction not in the least because the Supreme Court has a specialized Chamber dealing with arbitration matters. The Dialogue was not one of judges only but of judges and members of the arbitration community. Gratitude wad expressed for enabling that platform where lawyers can interact with the judiciary and works towards a uniform application of the Convention. The Dialogue was conducted in Spanish with Francisco Gonzalez de Cossio addressing the most complex issues in a very practical manner. It remains remarkable that national judges have many questions about the application of the New York Convention in the national space and it demonstrates the need for these judicial dialogues.

Copies of the ICCA NYC Guide were distributed and Marike Paulsson gave a presentation about the Judicial Virtual Forum. ICCA hopes that not only the guide but also the Forum will enable judges to continue to question the proper application of the Convention by engaging in discussions with their colleagues abroad. At the occasion of the Costa Rica Dialogue, the idea was born to establish a task force - as part of ICCA's endeavors to promote uniform application of the New York Convention - that will focus on Latin America. The members of this Task Force are Francisco Gonzalez de Cossio, Dyala Jimenez, Katherine Gonzalez Arrocha, Albert Jan van den Berg and Marike Paulsson. A first meeting will be held in June in Miami.