On 6 November, Maxi Scherer, Professor in International Arbitration, Dispute Resolution and Energy Law at Queen Mary University of London, delivered the Herbert Smith Freehills - SMU Asian Arbitration Lecture 2024 in Singapore.
In the lecture, she explored existing efforts to regulate AI in international arbitration, including the recently enacted EU AI Act. This topic is both pressing and timely, as the international arbitration community has so far given little attention to this Act, despite its potential applicability to international arbitration proceedings—even if the seat of arbitration and the parties or arbitrators are located outside the EU. She also addressed whether express AI regulation is desirable in international arbitration, touching on key considerations like procedural fairness, transparency, and data protection.
After the lecture, Professor Scherer was joined by Guest of Honor Justice Judith Prakash (Senior Judge of the Supreme Court, Singapore) for a panel discussion, moderated by Mr Tomas Furlong (Partner, Herbert Smith Freehills).
The HSF-SMU Asian Arbitration Lecture Series is jointly organised by Herbert Smith Freehills and Singapore Management University’s Centre for Commercial Law in Asia (CCLA). It was established in 2010 to promote collaborative forms of dispute resolution and access to justice, and in so doing to promote Singapore as the centre for dispute resolution in Asia, particularly in arbitration and mediation.