Interview: Sir William Blair, SCIA Council Member, Former Judge of the High Court of England and Wales

Editor:

On March 1 2024, the Inauguration Ceremony of the Third Council of the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration (SCIA) was held at the SCIA Tower in Qianhai, Shenzhen. Roberto Azevêdo, the former Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and Sir William Blair, the former Judge of the High Court of England and Wales, accepted the invitation of the Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government to become members of the SCIA Council, supporting the construction of China’s international business environment and high-level institutional opening-up. During the Council Meeting, media outlets includingPeople’s Daily, Xinhua News, and Southern Plus conducted in-depth interviews and reported on the Council Members. The following are the excerpts from the video interview with SCIA Council Member Sir William Blair.

Sir William Blair, SCIA Council Member, a former high court judge in Englnd and Wales in the U.K.

Sir William Blairmade a speechat the Inauguration Ceremony of the Third Council of SCIA

Reporters:

It is our pleasure to have an interview with you. What are your impressions of Shenzhen？

Sir William Blair:

My impressions of Shenzhen are very positive. I first came here a long time ago in 1981 when there was very little here, so the progress of Shenzhen has been remarkable. And remarkable so have been China.

Reporters:

Have you heard about SCIA before and what motivated you to accept the invitation to join the SCIA in this capacity？

Sir William Blair:

The SCIA is one of the best-known arbitration institutions in China and internationally. There are a lot of arbitration institutions in China, and some are very good ones and some are very well-known international arbitration institutions. And the SCIA is one of the leading arbitral bodies. Therefore, when they asked if I would join their Council, I was very happy and honoured to get that invitation and I am very glad to be on the Council now.

Reporters:

How do you view your past professional experiences contributing to your career?

Sir William Blair:

My experiences are: a legal practitioner, a judge and an arbitrator. I think I bring all three together. But particularly from the perspective of the SCIA, what is important is the arbitration perspective, and especially the international arbitration perspective, because there are some differences between domestic arbitration and international arbitration. The SCIA does both, so I can perhaps contribute to the international side more.

Reporters:

Could you please tell us what positive impact do you think arbitration has on international business activities?

Sir William Blair:

That is a very important question. All business and finance will generate disputes, that is not a sign of something going wrong, it is just an attribute of business and finance that disputes arise of various different kinds. Now you have to find some way of resolving those disputes, usually by negotiation. Normally, it does not need any process, but quite often it does need a process and you have to find a process. Now the courts, as I say, I have been a judge and I still am a judge in different parts of the world. The courts can provide a very important part of that process. But international arbitration takes it to a different level, because you no longer have something that is linked specifically to an individual court system. You have something with international standards, with international arbitrators and with international processes that has been very successful internationally. And you have now developed over the last 40 years as a major system of international commercial arbitration. And very importantly, the awards are enforceable under something called the New York Convention of which China is also a party, by the way.

Reporters:

What are your expectations for exploring new mechanisms for international dispute resolution in Qianhai?

Sir William Blair:

I think SCIA has a number of important advantages. First of all, it is based here in Shenzhen, which are very important sectors for finance, business and IT. SCIA is a very well-developed arbitration center; it has its own structure, for example, an independent Council. So, SCIA is very well positioned in this world of international arbitration that we have been talking about. But I can simply say this, in my many visits to China over the four decades, it has been remarkable to see the growth of the country and its part playing in the world. And I think everyone recognises that and it is a very positive thing.

Reporters:

What is your perspective on the global free trade system and the rise of protectionism? How do you think it will affect international trade?

Sir William Blair:

I think that is more a question for an economist, I think from a lawyer’s perspective and an arbitrator’s perspective, we simply deal with the world as we find it. It is our task to resolve disputes. There will be whatever kind of system we have, as I have said, those disputes are going to be there. Therefore, it’s our job to try to decide them impartially according to whatever law applies to the dispute and to give a result that the parties can rely upon.