On 11 November 2020, Georgia Antonopoulou gave an open lecture titled “International Commercial Courts: A New ‘Species’ of Courts”. Ms. Antonopoulou is currently a Lecturer at the China-EU School of Law and is also a PhD candidate at Erasmus School of Law, where she is researching this topic.

In this online open lecture, she discussed the worldwide proliferation of these novel institutions, the international commercial courts, and delved into their innovative features. In particular, she examined the cross-border character of the disputes before these courts, their establishment of jurisdiction, and their arbitration-like features. The discussion focused on the Singapore International Commercial Court, the China International Commercial Courts, the Dubai International Financial Center Courts and the legislative proposal for a Brussels International Business Court, which never came into existence.

This provided a solid foundation for analysing the benefits, as well as potential criticisms, of these special judicial bodies. The great number of students attending the lecture showed a high level of interest in the topic, especially as China is in the process of developing its own international commercial court system. The talk was organised by Prof. Monika Prusinowska and also attended by Prof. Monty Silley.

Students asked questions about the attractiveness of China’s International Commercial Courts to foreign litigants, as well as the policies or legislative steps that are required in order to enhance their appeal in international commercial dispute resolution.