76901 Vis Arbitral Moot

The Willem C Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot is an international moot that takes place every April in Vienna. Named in honour of Professor Willem Vis, a world-recognised expert in international commercial transactions and dispute settlement procedures, this moot is an acknowledgment of the business community's marked preference for resolving international commercial disputes by arbitration.

This method of dispute resolution is offered as the clinical tool to train law students through two crucial phases: the writing of memorandums for claimant and respondent, and the hearing of oral argument based upon the memorandums. The forensic and written exercises require determining questions of contract – flowing from a transaction relating to the sale or purchase of goods under the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods and other uniform international commercial law – in the context of an arbitration of a dispute under specific arbitration rules.

There are currently 79 law schools from 30 countries that send teams to Vienna. It is an excellent opportunity for students to learn an extremely valuable commercial skill, and a rare chance to meet and to form valuable professional friendships with a range of law students from around the world.

More information is available online at:

http://www.cisg.law.pace.edu/vis.html

Texts and references

Berger, K P, International Economic Arbitration, Kluwer, Deventer, 1993

Chiukwumerije, O, Choice of Law in International Commercial Arbitration, Quorum Books, 1994

Holtzmann, H M & Neuhaus, J, A Guide to the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration, Kluwer, 1989

Honnold, J, Documentary History of the Uniform Law for International Sales: The Studies, Deliberations and Decisions that Led to the 1980 United Nations Convention with Introductions and Explanations, Kluwer, 1989

Jacobs, M, International Commercial Arbitration in Australia: Law and Policy, 2 vols, loose-leaf, Law Book Company

Lew, J (ed.), Contemporary Problems in International Arbitration, Martinus Nijhoff, 1987

Van den Berg, J (ed.), Yearbook of Commercial Arbitration, Vol. 1, Kluwer, 1976+

Veeder, V V et al, The Internationalisation of International Arbitration, Graham & Trotman/Martinus Nijhoff, 1995