Host
AFSA is a multi-faceted dispute resolution centre with its headquarters in Sandton and branches in Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban, Limpopo, the Garden Route and the Eastern Cape. Its domestic division administers 300 – 400 business disputes each year and some 30 international matters are processed annually by the AFSA International Division under the light touch administration of its Secretary-General working under the direction of the AFSA International Court.
The AFSA SADC Division in partnership with the SADC Lawyers Association is tasked to standardise and harmonise arbitration practice in SADC a ground-breaking initiative for the region.
AFSA provides comprehensive training in dispute resolution in partnership with the University of Pretoria.
AFSA is a founding member of CAJAC (the China-Africa Joint Arbitration Centre) and represents South Africa in the creation of a BRICS arbitral mechanism.
AFSA is a non-profit and self-funding institution numbering the leading attorney and accounting firms, bars and other stakeholders amongst its founding members.
Co-hosts
39 Essex Chambers is a leading set of barristers based in London, Manchester, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. They offer a depth of expertise in a variety of specialist legal sectors and practice areas.
Chambers’ alternative dispute resolution (ADR) team has extensive experience in all forms of ADR, including arbitration, adjudication, dispute resolution boards, expert determination, early neutral evaluations and mediation. Our barristers’ aim is to understand each client’s commercial objectives and help them achieve those objectives in a strategic, economical and expeditious manner. Our clients span a range of industries, including energy and engineering, mining, infrastructure construction and shipbuilding to manufacturing, international trade, hotel operators, aviation and finance. They appear in arbitrations conducted in all arbitral seats, including London, Paris, Singapore, Dubai, Stockholm, Geneva and Zurich.
Advocates Group 621 was established in 1913 and is the oldest group of advocates at the Johannesburg Bar.
Members of Advocates Group 621 practice in all fields of commercial and public law, and many are recognized as leading experts in their areas of practice. Members appear in arbitrations and all courts in South Africa as well as in other jurisdictions in Southern Africa and are regularly appointed as arbitrators and mediators. Many members also contribute to leading academic works on various area of law, and lecture at local and international universities.
Advocates Group 621 is proud to count amongst its alumni renowned counsel and judges, including Bram Fischer QC, Rex Welsh QC, Sir Sydney Kentridge KCMG SC QC (who remains an honorary member), former Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson, Justice Edwin Cameron, Justice Jonathan Heher, Justice Johan Conradie, Justice David Unterhalter, Justice Fiona Dippenaar, and the late Justice Willem van der Linde.
Advocates Group 621 is committed to the mentorship of its pupils and junior members, as well as to the transformation of the Bar and the legal profession. The Group takes active steps to nurture its junior members so that they are best placed to develop thriving practices.
The China-Africa Joint Arbitration Centre (CAJAC) was created to resolve disputes arising in the course of trade and investment between Chinese and African business entities. The need for such an institution was identified by the inter-governmental Forum On China-Africa Co-Operation (FOCAC) and CAJAC was created to address that need. CAJAC is a unique partnership. Each of the six partners provides a shared service utilising the same specially crafted rules, panels and procedures enabling disputants to select any of its centres to administer the resolution of a particular dispute. The CAJAC partners are the Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa (AFSA), the Shanghai International Arbitration Centre (SHIAC), the Beijing International Arbitration Centre (BIAC), the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration (SCIA), the Nairobi Centre for International Arbitration Centre (NCIA) and OHADA. CAJAC centres are now located in Johannesburg, Nairobi, Cameroon, Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. The CAJAC Constitution provides for a Guiding Committee to lead partnership activity. The chairmanship of the Guiding Committee rotates annually and AFSA holds the chairmanship for the current year.
At CDH, we are at the forefront of the issues that shape the future of Africa. As a full service law firm, we provide comprehensive expert legal support to clients across the continent. Whether they are based in Africa or seeking to do business here, our authentic, knowledge-based services and resources empower them to navigate the complexities of the legal landscape.
The world is changing rapidly, and so are the challenges and opportunities for dispute resolution in Africa. As a continent with immense potential and diversity, Africa faces complex and evolving legal issues that require expert guidance and support.
Join us during Johannesburg Arbitration Week for our two sessions on:
- BRICS and Africa: The new global order
- The evolving legal environment for African disputes
Don’t miss these opportunities to engage in robust discussions and debates on the pertinent issues affecting the day-to-day business of companies operating in Africa.
Let’s shape the future together!
The General Council of the Bar of South Africa (GCB), was admitted in 1948 as a full member of the International Bar Association. It is composed of the twelve constituent Bars, which historically self-regulated
the advocates practice in South Africa.
Its objects remain to promote the teaching and practice of law, to uphold the interests of advocates, maintain high standards of integrity and professionalism, and to act within the profession as an agent of change, striving for the continued adoption and implementation of measures designed to protect and advance the interests of practitioners previously disadvantaged by discriminatory laws and practices.
The GCB acknowledges arbitrations as a defined area of practice of evergrowing importance. It views gatherings and initiatives such as the JAW, as necessary to demystify arbitrations and to afford an opportunity for those previously disadvantaged to become involved in this field. The GCB is a proud co-sponsor of JAW 2024.
Herbert Smith Freehills is one of the world’s leading international law firms. Our premium Africa dispute resolution practice is serviced by lawyers across our global network, in particular by our teams in Johannesburg, Paris, London and beyond.
We have the capability and platform to assist clients on all types of dispute or contentious matter in Africa including international commercial and investor-state arbitration, as well as to provide specialist risk management expertise.
Our dispute resolution experience in Africa includes advising and representing parties to large, complex and high-value arbitrations across a range of industry sectors, including energy, natural resources, infrastructure and telecommunications. We also spend a significant amount of time behind the scenes advising clients on how to minimise their exposure to contentious risk.
The combination of our full-service multi-industry expertise, deep Africa experience and know-how ensures we can provide a real value-added service to our clients in Africa whatever the challenge or opportunity.
Enhanced by technology and infused with real-world insight, KPMG Forensic professionals transform how clients identify, mitigate, and respond to fraud and fraud risk.
We advise on mitigating vulnerabilities to fraud, corruption, and financial crime, and assist in the prevention, detection, and response to fraud, corruption, and financial and organised crime.
We investigate to determine the facts of such, many on foot of complex multi-faceted, and multi-partied projects. Not only by helping parties discover the facts of fraud, corruption, and organised crime but also by assessing and mitigating the vulnerabilities of such activities. We aid in resolving disputes related to financial matters by investigating the dispute, assessing damages, articulating accounting, audit, financial, and resolution concepts, and providing expertise in conflict resolution. Our work is grounded in the interest of society. For more information about KPMG, visit our website at www.kpmg.co.za
Our strong roots in energy, infrastructure and technology disputes mark us out from other firms. While we have a particular strength in those sectors, our practice is diverse and covers various sectors, and includes clients in the aerospace, manufacturing, IP, banking and finance and pharmaceutical sectors, as well as representing investors, States and state-owned entities on investment treaty arbitrations. We are consistently ranked in Global Arbitration Review’s top 100 arbitration practices worldwide and we are ranked across our global jurisdictions for International Arbitration in leading directories, Legal500 and Chambers and Partners. We are also proud to have been recognised as WWL’s Construction Law Firm of the Year for 16 consecutive years highlighting our deep sector expertise and outstanding arbitration skillset.
Our experience includes institutional and ad hoc arbitrations and we have conducted arbitrations under a variety of rules, including various rules of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), AFSA, the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), Chinese Arbitration Association (CAA), Association of Arbitrators of South Africa and UNCITRAL.
We advise on every phase of the dispute process: negotiating the arbitration clause, managing the conflict at a project level, declaring, and prosecuting or defending the claims and seeing the matter through to enforcement.
General enquiries
+27 11 320 0600
+27 11 320 0533
1st Floor, Grindrod Tower, 8a Protea Place, Sandton
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