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The Asian Academy of International Law is excited to announce that the International Arbitration Club of New York’s Tenth Annual Smit-Lowenfeld Prize was awarded to Professor Julien Chaisse, one of our Advisory Board members! Congratulations!

The International Arbitration Club of New York (IACNY) announced today that Julien Chaisse and Cristen Bauer are the recipients of the 2021 Smit-Lowenfeld Prize for best article in the field of international arbitration. The annual Smit-Lowenfeld prize honors the late professors Hans Smit, former Stanley H. Fuld Professor Emeritus at Columbia Law School, and Andreas Lowenfeld, former Rubin Professor Emeritus at the New York University School of Law, for their distinguished careers in the field of international arbitration, both as scholars and as arbitrators.

The prize is being awarded for the article entitled ‘Cybersecurity and the Protection of Digital Assets: Assessing the Role of International Investment Law and Arbitration’, which was published in the Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law (Vol. 21, No. 3) and examines the extent to which digital assets can or might be protected as investments in investment treaty arbitrations. The authors explore how digital assets can be treated as covered investments by analysing three potential investment claims. They also consider potential updates to Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs), including language related to cyber-attacks and digital assets, as part of collaborative measures that incorporate a cybersecurity risk management framework in broader economic and social policies. The article concludes that evidence-based approaches to policy making are necessary in effective international internet governance.

The winning article was chosen by an IACNY selection committee chaired by Rory O. Millson, a retired partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP. The selection committee for the prize also included Simon Batifort (prior Smit-Lowenfeld prize winner and Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP partner); Lea Haber Kuck (Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates partner); Fredrick E. Sherman (Jones Day consultant); and Richard F. Ziegler (AcumenADR LLC arbitrator and mediator). 

For further details, please refer to the eFlyer.