Professor Andreas R. Ziegler organizes a lecture series in honour of Otto Riese.
Otto Riese (1894-1977) was a professor and Dean at the University of Lausanne Law School who became the first German judge at the European Court of Justice. Find out more...
Lectures:
6 March 2019, Professor Andrea K. Bjorklund (Mc Gill University, Montreal): Seeking Consistency: Foreign Investors’ Responsibilities and Contributory Fault in Investment Arbitration
Tribunals have been inconsistent in their consideration of foreign investors’ responsibilities in international investment arbitration. Some tribunals have nevertheless relied upon the legal principle of contributory fault to conclude that claimants have contributed to their own loss and have apportioned responsibility between the disputing parties accordingly. While offering an interesting avenue to address some forms of investor misconduct, the application of contributory fault by tribunals lacks a coherent approach. How can international investment agreements contribute to a more consistent application of contributory fault in a way that ensures a more coherent consideration of foreign investors’ responsibilities in international investment arbitration? This article argues that carefully crafted provisions can improve the consistency of international investment arbitration by fostering a more coherent approach to both contributory fault and foreign investors’ responsibilities. After analyzing the use of the legal principle by tribunals and identifying issues nourishing an incoherent approach, this article examines provisions from international instruments that can contribute to seek more consistency on these two fronts.
22 September 2016, Prof. Dr. iur. Marc Bungenberg, Director of the Europa-Institut of the University of Saarland, Germany will give the 14th Otto-Riese Lecture - opening the academic year 2016-2017 of the LL.M. Programme.25 February 2016: Prof. Markus Krajewski (University of Erlangen-Nürnberg) (13th Otto-Riese-Lecture - Opening of the Academic Term of the LLM Programme)
17 September 2015, UNCTAD Deputy Secretary-General Joakim Reiter: "Reforming international investment governance: fostering sustainable development in Africa" (12th Otto-Riese-Lecture - Opening of the Academic Term of the LLM Programme)
19 February 2015, Professor Erik de Brabandere (University of Leiden) (11th Otto-Riese-Lecture - Opening of the Academic Term of the LLM Programme)
18 September 2014, Secretary of State Jacques de Watteville (Head of the State Secretariat for International Financial Matters within the Swiss Federal Department of Finance, Berne): Challenges for the Swiss financial sector - the gap between perception and reality (10th Otto-Riese-Lecture)
The 10th Otto-Riese-Lecture ("Challenges for the Swiss financial sector - the gap between perception and reality") will be given on Thursday 18 September 2014 by Jacques de Watteville. He is the current Head of the State Secretariat for International Financial Matters within the Swiss Federal Department of Finance. He is also an alumnus of HEC and the Faculty of Law of the University of Lausanne.
20 February 2014: Ambassador Jonathan T. Fried (Permanent representative of Canada to the WTO): "Trade, Development and Sustainable Growth: a Post-Bali Perspective" (9th Otto-Riese-Memorial Lecture)
Jonathan T. Fried (BA [Philosophy], University of Toronto; LL B [Law], University of Toronto; Masters [Law], Columbia University) formerly Ambassador of Canada to Japan; Executive Director for Canada, Ireland and the Caribbean at the International Monetary Fund; Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister and Head of the Canada-United States Secretariat, Privy Council Office; Senior Assistant Deputy Minister for the Department of Finance, member of the Board of Directors of EDC and Canada's deputy for the G-7. Mr. Fried has also held various positions with the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, notably as Associate Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Trade; Assistant Deputy Minister, Trade, Economic and Environmental Policy; Chief Negotiator on the accession of China to the WTO; Director General of the General Trade Policy Bureau and Co-ordinator for the North American Free Trade Agreement, and earlier Principal Legal Counsel, Canada’s lead lawyer, for NAFTA and its side agreement negotiations, drafting of the agreement, and oversight of its implementation. He has served abroad as Counsellor for Congressional and Legal Affairs at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C., and as Second Secretary and Vice Consul at the Canadian Embassy in Brazil.Mr. Fried was elected three times by the General Assembly of the OAS as a member of the Inter-American Juridical Committee, and served as its Chair in 1996. He was Chair of the APEC Experts' Group on Dispute Mediation from its creation in 1994 to 1997, and was Vice-Chair of the OECD Trade Committee from 1995 to 1997. Mr. Fried was formerly Visiting Professor at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law, and has been an adjunct professor at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law, Georgetown University Law Center and the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University. On August 24, 2012, Mr. Fried was appointed as Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization in Geneva.
19 September 2013: Mr. Ricardo Cortés-Monroy (General Counsel, Nestlé Group): "If food is the new tobacco, what does it mean for the Law?" (8th Otto-Riese-Memorial Lecture)
Ricardo began his career with Nestlé in 1995 as Legal Counsel for Nestlé Chile responsible for general legal advice and international affairs. In 1998 he became Senior Counsel for the Nestlé Andean Region (Chile, Peru and Bolivia) and was the legal lead in M&A regional projects. In 2000 he was transferred to Nestlé’s headquarter in Vevey, Switzerland, where after a short period as Legal Counsel, he was promoted General Counsel Zone Americas (Latin America). He participated –since its inception in 2001- in the Dairy Partners Americas Supervisory Board meetings to support Nestlé's position from a legal perspective. This alliance with Fonterra is the largest alliance/joint venture in the Nestlé Group. As a member to its Executive Team, he participated in the management process of Zone Americas to assess, avoid and minimize legal risks and show legal opportunities related to the strategies, business plans and programs. He led important projects and matters, especially Mergers & Acquisitions, Antitrust, major litigation & dispute resolution. In August 2010 the Nestlé Group decided to nominate Ricardo as its worldwide Group General Counsel and will lead a team of more than 250 lawyers in 62 different jurisdictions. Prior to joining Nestlé, Ricardo was Assistant General Counsel of Phelps Dodge Mining Company (South America) and practiced law at the law firm of Philippi Yrarrazaval in Chile. Ricardo was born in Santiago, Chile and studied Law and Economics at the Universidad de
Chile
21 February 2013: Prof. Ernst-Ulrich Petersmann(Former Legal Advisor at the GATT and Professor at the European University Institute): The Judicial Task of Administering Justice in International Economic Adjudication (7th Otto-Riese Memorial Lecture)
Ernst-Ulrich Petersmann, Emeritus Professor at the European University Institute and former legal adviser (since the inception of the Legal Service in 1982) at the GATT/WTO Secretariat will deliver the Otto-Riese-Memorial Lecture on occasion of the opening ceremony of the Spring Semester of our LLM Programme.
20 September 2012: Thomas R. Graham (Member of the WTO Appellate Body) (6th Otto-Riese Memorial Lecture)
Thomas R. Graham has been associated in different capacities with the modern GATT/WTO multilateral trading system since its creation. Since December 2011 as a Member of the WTO Appellate Body, he looks back at a distinguished career in Government, International Organizations and Private Practice. After graduating from Harvard Law School, he started his professional life in Geneva as a legal counsellor for the United Nations, worked later as Deputy General Counsel for the U.S. Trade Representative in Washington D.C. and then joined private practice. Before being elevated to the Appellate Body, Thomas Graham was Senior Counsel for King & Spalding, chairing its International Trade Group. Otto Riese (1894-1977) was a professor and Dean at the University of Lausanne Law School who became the first German judge at the European Court of Justice.
23 February 2012: Dr. Frieder Roessler (Executive Director, Advisory Centre on WTO Law - ACWL, Geneva) (5th Otto-Riese Memorial Lecture)
Frieder Roessler served as Executive Director of the ACWL from its inception in 2001 until July 2012. In this capacity, he played a significant role in establishing and developing the ACWL. Since stepping down from his position as Executive Director, he has continued to serve as Senior Counsel at the ACWL in a part-time capacity. Mr. Roessler was educated in Germany, Switzerland and the United States. After completing his legal training in Germany, he worked for the World Bank and then for the GATT and the World Trade Organization. In 1989, he was appointed Director of Legal Affairs, a post which he held until 1995. Mr. Roessler's main task at the GATT and the WTO was to advise dispute settlement panels and to prepare drafts of their reports or supervise their preparation by his staff. He was also closely involved in the legal aspects of the Uruguay Round negotiations and participated in the legal drafting process at the end of the Round. After leaving the WTO, Mr. Roessler joined the faculty of law of Georgetown University in Washington, DC. He has also been an adjunct professor at the Jean Moulin University of Lyon and at Paris and taught at the universities of St. Gallen in Switzerland and of Minnesota in the United States. Between 1995 and 1998 he gave courses and seminars at Georgetown University on international economic law, the external relations and trade policies of the EC, WTO dispute settlement procedures (with Prof. John Jackson), and trade and the environment (with Prof. Edith Brown-Weiss).
28 September 2011: Secretary of State Marie-Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch (Director of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairswithin the Federal Department of Economics, Berne, Switzerland) (4th Otto-Riese Memorial Lecture)
Marie Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch is with the title of a Secretary of State Director of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, Berne, Switzerland. From 2007 Federal Council Ambassador and Delegate for Trade Agreements, Switzerland's chief negotiator at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as well as member of the SECO Board of Directors and in addition to the WTO responsible for the OECD and free trade agreements as head of the World Trade Division in the Foreign Economic Affairs Directorate. Previously, from 1999 to 2007, head of the WTO sector. From 1995 head of section in the WTO section of the Federal Office of Foreign Economic Affairs FOFEA. 1992/1993 she worked at the World Bank (Washington D.C., USA) as assistant to Switzerland's Executive Director's. From 1990 to 1995 scientific adviser in the Legal Service and International Investment and Technology Transfer Service in the FOFEA. 1989 gained her MBA from INSEAD (Fontainebleau, F). 1988 Junior Consultant at McKinsey in Zurich. 1987 gained her law degree at the University of Berne qualifying as an attorney.
23 September 2010: H.E. Ambassador Roberto Azevedo (Permanent Representative of Brazil to the WTO) : Brazil as a Global Player in the World Economy (Third Otto Riese Lecture)
H.E. Roberto Azevedo is the Permanent Representative of Brazil to the WTO and other Economic Organizations in Geneva. After a distinguished career in the Foreign Service of his country, he joined the Permanent Mission of Brazil in Geneva for the first time in 1997, then as First Secretary. Since then, he has headed the delegation of Brazil in many high-profile dispute settlement cases (e.g. the cases on Brazilian Export Credits for Regional Aircrafts, on EC Anti-Dumping Duties on Malleable Cast Iron Tube or Pipe Fittings, the WTO-compatibility of the U.S. Byrd Amendment, Brazilian Measures Affecting Imports of Retreated tires, U.S. Subsidies on Upland Cotton, the EC Banana Regime and EC Export Subsidies on Sugar) and served as distinguished panellist on other cases. He became Ambassador of his country in Geneva in 2007 and has established himself as one of the most prominent voices on trade-related issues.
3 March 2010: Victor do Prado (Deputy Secretary-General - WTO): Current Challenges for the World Trading Order (Second Otto Riese Lecture)
Victor do Prado is Deputy Chef de Cabinet of the Director General of the World Trade Organisation Pascal Lamy. He addresses the current state of the Doha Round and its dynamics as seen from within the WTO.
17 September 2009: Jacques Bourgeois (Former Leagal Adviser to DG Trade - European Commission, Brussels and Professor at the College of Europe, Bruges): "Les paradoxes de Lamy" - some thoughts about the WTO (First Otto Riese Lecture)
Jacques Bourgois served from 1987-1991 as principal legal adviser of the European Commission, where he was in charge of foreign trade policy and, later, antitrust policy. Previously, he had served for several years as head of the Trade Policy Instruments Division in the Directorate General for External Relations, and was responsible for the implementation of the EU's regulations on antidumping and subsidies, as well as for safeguard measures and protection against illicit commercial practices.
