It is a pleasure and an honour to pay tribute to Alexis' time at
the helm of the ICC Court. Among his achievements, let me highlight
three that in my view will mark his legacy. They deal with
efficiency, transparency, and diversity, three notions that are an
integral part of the legitimacy of international arbitration, the
topic of his remarkable recent opening lecture at the Hague
Academy.
First, he managed to significantly improve the efficiency of the
international arbitration process by incentivising arbitrators to
deliver their awards in a shorter time span than was usual for
many. For that, he not only announced that the ICC Court would
reduce the fees of ‘slow' arbitrators but also followed suit. It
required courage as the measure was not popular among arbitrators,
to say the least. Yet, it was truly effective and over time it was
increasingly accepted in such a manner that it is now fully
integrated by tribunals as a feature of ICC arbitration.
Second, Alexis brought more transparency to international
arbitration. While the lack of transparency had been a serious
concern in investment arbitration for some time, it was not
generally seen as a threat to commercial arbitration. Yet, Alexis
recognised that the standing of international arbitration would be
enhanced through initiatives for greater transparency. Among other
actions to this effect, he, in particular, promoted the systematic
publication of awards, except where the parties opt out. One can
reasonably expect that this measure will have wide-ranging effects.
It will boost the evolution of the law, mainly but not exclusively
procedural and contract law. Nowadays, contract law mainly evolves
thanks to court decisions. However, the vast majority of
cross-border contract disputes are resolved through arbitration,
not court litigation. Hence, and in spite of the publication of
excerpts of arbitral decisions, a huge segment of the legal
solutions given to contract disputes escapes publicat
