Faithful to its tradition of more than 15 years in supporting, by means of scholarships, internships and sponsorships, talented young people starting off in the legal profession, Muşat & Asociaţii ensured the partaking of a team of three students from the Law Faculty within the Nicolae Titulescu University in the international competition “Investment Arbitration Moot Court”, organized by the Goethe University of Frankfurt between 4-6 March 2009. Besides the team preparation and the full coverage of the expenditures required for such participation, Muşat & Asociaţii was among the primary sponsors of this manifestation, together with other companies and prestigious law firms in Europe.
“Such competitions are a genuine opportunity for the students to measure up, in an international law case in the field of foreign investment protection, against young people from other countries, and, for the ones reaching the finals, to support their argumentations before an arbitral tribunal consisting of experts of the Arbitration Courts of Washington (ICSID) and London. Foreign investment protection is one of the most innovative and frequently addressed sections of the international law, and participating to this competition shall provide to the three young people an extremely valuable practical perspective over the mechanisms of dispute settlement. We are delighted to support them in this competition, providing them with the opportunity to be involved in an extensive international project and to undergo a remarkable professional experience”, says Ion Dragne, Deputy Senior Partner Muşat & Asociaţii.
Alongside other 27 teams from around the world, the three Romanian students were involved in the settlement of the first stage of an arbitration procedure carried out pursuant to ICSID Rules (International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes), i.e. the settlement of the objections regarding the competence of the Centre and of the Arbitration Tribunal to settle the dispute. This exercise tested and enriched their knowledge in the area of arbitration procedure, international law and practice of ICSID, as well as of other international bodies for settlements of various disputes. This year, the Frankfurt moot court competition of simulated trials brought forth a case from the foreign investment protection and maritime law area, inspired by a real case occurred during the Civil War in the United States.
The expertise of Muşat & Asociaţii in the field of international arbitration includes various disputes already settled or pending settlement by the arbitration tribunals organized under the patronage of ICSID (Washington) and of the International Chamber of Commerce (Paris), as well as by the ad-hoc arbitral tribunals, having an aggregate value in excess of EUR 1 billion only in the past three years. Recently, the company obtained the first victory of a private investor against the Romanian State before an international arbitration court (ICSID – Washington), which decided for the first time, in reference to Romania, that the repeal/cancellation of the facilities granted to foreign investments may entail damages to the investors, and an action for the remedy of such damages is, in principle, admissible in front of ICSID. Previously, Muşat & Asociaţii acted in favor of the Romanian State, winning the dispute initiated by Noble Ventures against the State, also before ICSID, in relation to the Iron and Steel Mill from Reşiţa.