Perspectives Contentieuses Internationales: Issue 3 of 2025

The latest issue of the French journal dedicated to international dispute resolution, Perspectives Contentieuses internationales (PCI), has been released.

It is an open access publication and can be freely read here.

The main focus of the issue is the International Commercial Chamber at the Paris Court of Appeal (CCIP-CA). Nine contributions are provided, coordinated by Daniel Barlow and Sandrine Clavel, exploring various aspects of the Court and its case law.

Sandrine Clavel, La chambre commerciale internationale de la Cour d’appel de Paris, juridiction-modèle ?

The International Commercial Chamber of the Paris Court of  Appeal  (CCIP-CA)  was  created  in  2018  and  is  now well  established in the French international commercial law landscape. A specialised court par excellence, operating according to adapted rules  of  procedure,  it  has  distinguished  itself  by building  a  juris-prudence  that  can  be  identified  by  three  characteristics:  a  concern  for  pedagogy  in  its reasoning;  openness  to  innovations  in  case law; and a search for balance between the protection of the public interest and the preservation of private interests. Its contribution to improving the quality of cross-border dispute resolution is undeniable.

François Ancel, La place de la chambre commerciale internationale dans le paysage judiciaire national

The  International  Commercial  Chamber  of  the  Paris  Court  of  Appeal (CCIP-CA), created in 2018 to attract international trade disputes  and  strengthen  France’s  judicial  visibility  after  Brexit,  occupies  a  special  position  in  the  judicial  landscape.  Although  integrated  into  the  Paris  Court  of  Appeal  without  any  formal  change  to  the judicial  organisation,  it  has  established  itself  as  a  veritable  laboratory  for  judicial  innovation:  by  experimenting with  effective  methods  of  handling  disputes,  it  could  inspire  the  entire French judicial system. While its place within this system is  gradually  being  consolidated  by  legislative  and  regulatory  reforms,  the  consolidation  work  must  be  continued  and  supplemented by a reflection on the handling of international trade disputes at each level of the judicial hierarchy.

Gilles Cuniberti, La place de la chambre commerciale internationale dans le paysage judiciaire international

The  international  commercial  chambers  of  the  Parisian  courts  were  established  in  2018  in  a  context  of international competition  with  the  aim  of  positioning  France  and  attracting  major  international  disputes.  This contribution  aims  to  evaluate  the  French  experience  in  relation  to  foreign  experiences,  distinguishing  between  projects,  means,  and  conditions  of  access  to  the  different international commercial courts.

Daniel Barlow, Procédure et pratiques de la chambre commerciale internationale

While  remaining  faithful  to  the  principles  derived  from  the  French Code of Civil Procedure, the procedural framework of the International Commercial Chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal has been adapted to meet the expectations of litigants experienced in international commercial litigation. The contractualisation of the  procedure,  including  before  the  pretrial  judge,  aims  to  offer  predictability and simplification, while ensuring the efficiency of the  process.  Other  adjustments,  such  as  linguistic  flexibility,  the  place reserved for the hearing, and the rules relating to evidence, reflect  this  concern  for  efficiency  and  contribute  to  the  ongoing  quest  for  quality  in  the  administration  of  justice.  The  success  of  this model argues in favour of the formal enshrinement of some of its procedural specificities in the texts.

Erwan Poisson and Maxime Mondain-Bernard, De l’intérêt pratique de voir son affaire tranchée par la Chambre commerciale internationale : un point de vue de praticiens

Based on the experience of French and foreign practitioners, and on the analysis of a corpus of 202 decisions of the International Commercial  Chamber  of  the  Paris  Court  of  Appeal,  this  article  demonstrates that while, abroad, the Chamber’s decisions do not enjoy  greater  favor  than  other  French  court  decisions,  domestically,  however,  the  specialisation,  international  culture,  and  procedural flexibility that characterise the Chamber are particularly  well  suited  to  practitioners’  expectations.  The  article  notes,  however, with regret, that international trade litigation is not entirely concentrated before the Chamber and deserves to be and that the  time  allocated  to  hearings  is  sometimes  limited.  The article  proposes increasing the number of members of the Chamber as a possible solution to this twofold observation.

Marie-Elodie Ancel and François Mailhé, La jurisprudence de la chambre commerciale internationale en droit international privé

In   seven   years   of   operation,   the   International   Commercial   Chamber  of  the  Paris  Court  of  Appeal  has  gradually  developed  original  solutions,  both  procedural  and  substantive,  in  private  international  law.  It demonstrates  a  certain  liberalism  and  an  effort to adapt solutions to the international context, in the spirit of French case law.  Perhaps too much in this spirit, however, since certain difficulties are omitted or dismissed.

Malik Laazouzi, La jurisprudence de la chambre commerciale internationale en matière d’arbitrage international : L’articulation entre le contentieux arbitral et le contentieux étatique (Part 1) ; Le respect de la volonté des parties (Part. 2) ; Le respect des droits et principes fondamentaux (Part. 3). 

The  International  Commercial  Chamber  of  the  Paris  Court  of  Appeal  now  hears  virtually  all  international  arbitration-related  disputes in France. Because of this central position, knowledge of its case law has become essential, rendering an in-depth analysis indispensable. This analysis is divided into three articles focusing respectively on the relationship between arbitration and state litigation,  respect  for  the  parties’  will,  and  respect  for  fundamental  rights and principles. It reveals the attention the Chamber pays to criticisms that are sometimes levelled at it and shows how it seeks to refine its solutions in response. In general, the Chamber’s case law expresses its willingness to fully exercise the mission of control — in fact and in law — of international and foreign awards entrusted to it, but without undermining the principle of non-review or encouraging the imagination of the award challenging-parties.

The issue includes the following articles, unrelated to the International Commercial Chamber at the Paris Court of Appeal.

Patrick Jacob, Le contentieux interaméricain des droits de l’homme, remède efficace à la violation des droits des peuples autochtones ? Réflexions à partir de l’affaire Lhaka Honhat

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has developed pioneering,  bold,  and  inventive  case  law  on  reparations for  damages  suffered by indigenous peoples, as illustrated by the 2020 ruling in  the  Lhaka Honhat  (Our  Land)  case.  This  ruling  confirms  the  central  role  of  the  restitution  of  ancestral  territories  in  reparations for violations of land rights. But it also highlights the need to  accompany  this  restitution  with  other  measures,  both  symbolic and financial, designed to remedy the harm suffered, particularly in cultural terms. The implementation of all these measures rests with the State, which the Court urges to undergo a profound transformation. A ruling such as this is therefore the starting point for a new process that should enable the State’s relationship with indigenous peoples to evolve

Marjolaine Roccati, La notion de ‘matière contractuelle’ dans le règlement Bruxelles I bis : perspectives contentieuses

The phrase “matters relating to a contract”, in the Brussels I (recast) regulation, has long been related to the Jakob Handte case, rendered by the European Court of Justice. Its interpretation has nonetheless evolved to the point where the criterion of an obligation freely assumed between litigating parties is no longer considered relevant. This expansion of contractual  matters  to  third  parties  invites  us  to  reconsider  a  number  of  previous  decisions  and  to  reflect  more  broadly on litigating perspectives. In particular, the article invites us to reconsider the outlines of the contractual cause of action, which has  become  the  sole  determining  criterion,  incorporating  rules  of  law  applicable  by  reason  of  a  contract  and  excluding  obligations  deriving from a collective act. To ensure predictability for the par-ties, the article reiterates the need to designate the competent court based on the place of performance of the contract on which the legal action is grounded. Finally, it calls for a refusal to enforce the forum clause against third parties, claimants or defendants, although this refusal does not extend to the choice of law clause.

Finally, the issue includes the following shorter pieces: Géraldine Giraudeau, Les perspectives contentieuses de l’avis sur le climat : le juge national au premier plan; Fabienne Jault-Seseke, Affaire Lliuya / RWE : à contentieux stratégique, décision stratégique; Elena Myrto Kapetanaki, Refonte des dispositions du Code de procédure civile régissant les modes de résolution amiable des différends.