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FOURTH INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION CONGRESS
by MAX ABRAHAMSON, Solicitor
This Congress was held from October 3 to October 7,
1972, and included as one of its major topics the prob-
lems of construction arbitration, a recognition of the
national and international importance, or at least prob-
lems, of this field. The papers ranged from "Problems of
Arbitration Procedure in Disputes Arising from Con-
tracts for Industrial, Scientific and Technical Co-
operation", "Arbitration Disputes in Major Construction
Projects" and "Arbitration and Contract Guarantees"
(by Dr. Eisemann, Director of the International Cham-
ber of Commerce) to "Some Remarks on Pre-arbitration
Procedure in Syria" and "Arbitration in Patent and
Know-how Licence Agreements". Over fifty communi-
cations were written on and about the basic reports.
The amount of time and money spent on efforts to
improve arbitration procedure must be minute measured
against the importance of this subject, so that it is most
sad to have to report that a sizable sum of money and
the opportunity of serious work in this field of a large
gathering of experts were wasted.
Most of the reports and communications, saying
nothing of any value at length but very diplomatically,
were both circulated in advance and in many cases read
verbatim by their authors at the sessions of the Congress.
At the end of the wearisome affair the science or art of
arbitration was not noticeably more advanced than at
the beginning.
Even surviving the boredom, one was in danger of
drowning in powerful undercurrents. Communist coun-
tries versus non-communist countries, England, France
and America vying with each other as centres of com-
mercial arbitration with the contribution to balance of
payments. The hostility between lawyer and non-lawyer
arbitrators was evident.
It was particularly interesting that, whilst the dele-
gations from other countries, particularly France, with
one of the largest delegations, were almost all lawyers,
the English/Scottish/Welsh delegation, with which I
travelled, had a very small proportion of lawyers, yet it
was calculated that between them this delegation had
been involved in some 10,000 arbitrations (this included
a very sizable number of shipping arbitrations).
Perhaps it was as foolish to expect enlightenment in
Moscow on matters relating to justice as it would be to
expect instruction in Switzerland on naval tactics. It is
probably naive ever to expect fruitful work from an
international congress, and one should be satisfied to
have had the opportunity to meet many people well
worth travelling far to encounter. Nevertheless I was
extremely depressed to encounter once again the extra-
ordinary readiness of lawyers to pontificate on very
difficult problems on the basis of often narrow, ill-
digested and distorted personal experience, without the
benefit of any proper investigation, or evidence. It is not
surprising that there has been so little effort to tailor
the technique of arbitration to the particular needs of
the construction industry and that arbitration has been
perverted from its intended purpose to a replica of
court proceedings at their worst.
As to Moscow generally, I travelled there in the belief
that I would spend most of my time at the congress. As
a result I had no plans for using my time as a tourist
fruitfully when on humanitarian grounds I released
myself from all but the minimum attendance.
I did not succeed in getting into a Russian home or
forming any clear picture of the economics of the
system or the degree of supervision of the lives of the
citizens. It was very difficult in one week to reach con-
clusions in a country where a first-class ticket to the
ballet which would cost £8 in London, is only slighter
dearer than a bar of chocolate.
There was no contact with the Russian delegation.
I understand, from other sources, that there are some-
thing over 10,000 lawyers in private practice in Russia,
but that their rolé is quite different to the role we
perform, or should perform. A lawyer is prohibited from
attempting to minimise the seriousness of the crime of
the accused he is defending, and may not plead "not
guilty" if he believes that his client committed the
crime. This means that an accused is to a large extent
defenceless against the State, and coupled with vague
definitions of crimes, no doubt goes some way to explain-
ing the abuses of judicial proceedings of which we have
heard. Soviet officials are harrassing even wh®n they
appear to wish to help; goodness help those of whom
harrassment is encouraged officially. But perhaps this is
not the best time to adopt an air of moral superiority
about our legislation and "judicial" system.
On the sightseeing level, I did not have time to go
inside Lenin's tomb. Lenin is one lawyer who is looked
upon as a deity by his subjects, unlike some of our
judges who only think they are. His photograph is
omnipresent and a long queue of sightseers stretches
through Red Square waiting to see his entombed
remains.
We were told officially that there is freedom of reli-
gious worship in Russia, and presumably this is the
religion referred to. Several attendances at the Great
Synagogues of Moscow were memorable but saddening
experiences.
Walking across Red Square after attending a perfor-
mance of the Bolshoi Ballet in its home theatre, the
cavernous Moscow undergrounds, the department store
GUM (Government Universal Magazine—Moore Street
under cover) were memorable. Moscow is recommended
for a visit to all save gourmets—and steer clear of
congresses.
NOT ICE
Vacancies in United Nations Secretariat
The Society has received from the Department of
Foreign Affairs notification of vacancies in the
United Nations Secretariat some of which are
open to persons with legal qualifications. Any
member interested may obtain further particulars
on application to the Society quoting the refer-
ence E/8/73, February 14th, or preferably direct
to the Department of Foreign Affairs quoting
the reference 417/131/C, 14th February 1973.
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