Sustainable international arbitration: technology and the SDGS

• Author: Miguel Ángel Serrano Pérez
• Profession: International Arbitrator, Vice president of the Arbitration Council of the Autonomous Region of Madrid (Spain) and Associate Professor of Commercial & Business Law, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain)
• Pages: 145-170

ROSA PÉREZ MARTELL (Coordinadora) LA TECNOLOGÍA Y LOS OBJETIVOS DE DESARROLLO SOSTENIBLE 145

SUSTAINABLE INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION:

TECHNOLOGY AND THE SDGS

Miguel Ángel Serrano Pérez

International Arbitrator, Vice president of the Arbitration Council of the Autonomous

Region of Madrid (Spain) and Associate Professor of Commercial & Business Law,

Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain)

SUMARIO: 1. Introduction. 2. The negative impact of the international arbitra-

tion practice on the environment. 3. The increased use of technology in the in-

ternational arbitration arena and its necessary correlation to the SDGS. 4. What

can be done to create a sustainable international arbitration? 5. The opportunity,

concerns and threats of technology. 6. Conclusions. 7. References.

PALABRAS CLAVE: Environment, International arbitration, SDGs, Techonolgy,

and Cost-eff‌iciency.

ABSTRACT: There is a negative impact of the international arbitration practice

on the environment. In this regard, this essay poses the question of a sustain-

able international arbitration based on the increased use of technology and its

necessary correlation to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals («SDGs»).

As with every opportunity, comes ostensible concerns and threats, this ap-

proach has therefore pros and cons. But we will have to f‌ind the right balance for

each case. On the one hand, opportunities to embrace technological advance-

ment must be accompanied by measures to ensure that the essential elements

of a fair arbitration process are preserved (such as due process and equality of

arms, ethical and effective examination of experts and factual witnesses). It is

also necessary to manage associated and new risks. Data protection, conf‌iden-

tiality and cybersecurity risks are the main concerns. Use of technology must

be increased and not feared to aid the arbitration process. However, in only

doing so, all the «operators» of arbitration maybe do not know what real effect

the measures they are selecting and taking will have on the climate change

mitigation. For this reason, we should also do well to align our efforts more

MIGUEL ÁNGEL SERRANO PÉREZ

SUSTAINABLE INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION: TECHNOLOGY AND THE SDGS

LA TECNOLOGÍA Y LOS OBJETIVOS DE DESARROLLO SOSTENIBLE ROSA PÉREZ MARTELL (Coordinadora)

146

closely with global initiatives, such as the SDGs, in order to try a holistic, and

more comprehensive at the same time, new approach to this matter and the

multifaceted issues that arise.

By using the technology, we will be able to pave the way for an interactive ar-

bitration process that would be equally fair and secure, but more eff‌icient, less

expensive, and with lower carbon emissions.

1. INTRODUCTION

Given the global nature of international arbitration, it has a signif‌icant

carbon footprint. In this regard, we should take into account that most of

the hearings related to international arbitrations have been conducted in

person. A face-to-face hearings have been taken for granted as a matter of

practice until this point. Each and every practitioner got used to the costs

and environmental impact of having witnesses, experts, arbitrators and law-

yers f‌lown in to the hearing venues from all around the world, however far

the travel, however high the costs, or however complex the logistics. And

all that, in spite that long distance travel is by far the worst offender of the

environment. But we must not forget the paper f‌ilings and the voluminous

hard copy bundles that are inherent to almost every international arbitration

process, as they have evident impact on environment as well. In the last few

years, such a situation has become diff‌icult to justify. Furthermore, interna-

tional arbitrations have been intensely criticized for its negative impact on

the environment. Hence addressing this criticism will be key to the ongoing

legitimacy and attractiveness of arbitration for its users.

Within the aforementioned context, it appears that efforts to rectify

the environmental impact of arbitrations are moving towards the forefront

of practitioners’ minds and arbitral institutions. There is a current trend

towards promoting overall social responsibility and greener, more envi-

ronmentally conscious arbitration proceedings by means of the increased

use of technology. The crucial point is not only that we are facing matters