I had not planned to start my new DrawingFromThePast series with a post on the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot.
But actually, it makes total sense.
🎓 Because the Vis Moot is everything I care about in international arbitration and dispute resolution in general: compassion, international law, education, exchange, peace.
Especially in the times we live in, all of these are increasingly under pressure and need to be promoted and defended with every bit of strength that is left in us.
❤️ The thousands of students, coaches and arbitrators who have today started engaging in the 33rd Willem C. Vis International Arbitration Moot Court — named after one of the three founders of this academic competition and shortly referred to as the “Vis”* — are testament to my hope that we will prevail.
🚂 As I sit on the train to Vienna from Berlin — via Prague, together with my family, who is coming along for the first time — I came across this drawing. I sketched it rapidly on a paper table cloth at a coffee table debate workshop during the 2025 Vienna Arbitration Days. Topic: How much can I steer the procedure early on from the perspective of an arbitrator?
👨⚖️ Let’s see about that! My first Vis Moot hearing between the teams from the University of Sidney and Maharashtra National Law University Nagpur is on Tuesday…
DrawingFromThePast Conflict Litigation Arbitration Mediation Conciliation ADR InternationalExchange Education
*𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵: 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝟦𝟢𝟢 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘉𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘦-𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝟨𝟦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘴, 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦. 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘝𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘫𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘐𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵.