Event Information
In-person and virtual event - Reassessing Assessing Credibility
An assessment of credibility is often crucial in determining the weight to be given to witness testimony. Are arbitral tribunals (and courts and other tribunals) assessing credibility appropriately and correctly? Are they using ‘traditional’ criteria and indicia that are not accurate for people who were not raised in a historically traditional English society? Join the Ciarb London Branch Committee as we discuss these issues. You will hear from a range of speakers, drawn from different disciplines, including not only arbitration but judging and policing, as they examine our long-standing views on assessing the credibility of witnesses in international arbitration.
The event will be moderated by The Honourable Barry Leon FCIArb, former Presiding Judge of the BVI Commercial Court and now Arbitrator and Meditator at 33 Bedford Row Chambers (London), Arbitration Place (Canada), and Caribbean Arbitrators, and a Vice-Chair of the Ciarb Caribbean Branch. Welcome remarks will be delivered by Glenda Vencatachellum MCIArb, Barrister and Mediator, Canonbury Chambers and Ciarb London Branch Member.
Panel:
- District Judge Clare Hockney, Chair of the Editorial Team for the Courts of England and Wales’s “Equal Treatment Bench Book”. A solicitor, she was appointed as a District Judge in 2019, and earlier sat as a fee-paid Judge of the First-Tier Tribunal, assigned to the Social Entitlement Chamber in 2013 and authorized to sit in the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal in 2016.
- Akima Paul Lambert, Partner with Hogan Lovells, is counsel in high-stakes commercial and investment treaty arbitration and commercial litigation. She acts for financial institutions, corporations and professional firms in arbitration and litigation arising out of commercial, banking and financial disputes. Akima is a member of the ICC Court of Arbitration for Grenada, is the Chair and Founder of the Society of Caribbean Lawyers in London (SOCAL), and is dual-qualified in the U.K. and U.S.
- Khawar Qureshi KC, Head of McNair International Chambers, specialises in international commercial and investment treaty arbitration and commercial litigation, acting for and against commercial and State parties, and in public international law. Khawar has acted for and against more than 60 governments. In 1993, he was the youngest lawyer to appear before the International Court of Justice representing Bosnia in the genocide case against Yugoslavia. He was appointed as Deputy Judge of the High Court in 2023.
- Debbie Simpson, QPM, MBA, is the former Chief Constable of Dorset Constabulary. She worked in policing for 35 years. with three different forces across the UK. Debbie held several national portfolios including transforming how forensics are provided, leading the UK approach to Disaster Victim Identification, and serving as co-director for officer fast-track and chief officer progression. Debbie currently teaches at Cambridge University in the Applied Criminology and Police Management programme, Institute of Criminology.
The event is from 6.00pm to 8.00pm with registration for in-person attendance from 5.30pm
Registration
There is no charge to attend, but prior registration is required and limited in-person spaces are available. Please confirm both in-person and virtual attendance by contacting Elinor Pritchard at elinor@thevirtualpartnership.co.uk
