The 21st edition of the ICCA Congress Series will be launched during the inaugural Edinburgh International Arbitration Festival, which will take place on 21 and 22 September.

Since its first conference in 1961, the ICCA Conferences and Congresses have established themselves as a place for the discussion of emerging ideas, the fundamentals and the contentious topics in international arbitration. The ICCA Congress Series includes every paper presented at an ICCA Congress since 1982.

Lucy Reed, president of ICCA, said: “We are delighted to be returning to Scotland to support the first Edinburgh International Arbitration Festival and to be part of the launch of the ICCA Edinburgh Congress book along with Kluwer and the Scottish Arbitration Centre. Our Congress Series provides in-depth analyses of past and current issues in international arbitration, courtesy of leaders in the field, and we very much look forward to the publication of the latest edition.”

The Scottish Arbitration Centre is behind the organisation of Edinburgh International Arbitration Festival, which will involve events on Thursday 21 September and a main conference and evening events on Friday 22 September.

Andrew Mackenzie, CEO of the centre, said: “We look forward to welcoming ICCA back to Edinburgh to launch the ICCA Edinburgh Congress book. It is an honour to be working with ICCA again and to have the organisation supporting our inaugural Edinburgh International Arbitration Festival – ArbFest2023. This new arbitration event will seek to be a truly international one, albeit with a Scottish flavour, and I hope to welcome back many of those practitioners from around the world who attended ICCA Edinburgh.”

Justin D’Agostino MH, global CEO of Herbert Smith Freehills and native of Edinburgh, has been named as the first speaker and will provide a keynote at the main conference.

Mr D’Agostino said: “It is always a pleasure for me to return home to Scotland, but it is a particular pleasure to be returning to speak at the inaugural Edinburgh International Arbitration Festival, and to be involved in the launch of the ICCA Edinburgh Congress book given my role as Co-Chair of the next ICCA Congress in Hong Kong in 2024.”