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Closing Keynote: Arbitration and Armed Conflict

On, 20 June, Suzanne Spears delivered the closing keynote address of the 2025 London Summer Arbitration School. The lecture addressed Arbitration and Armed Conflict.  Below is a video recording and a short summary of the lecture.  We live in an era in which the number of armed conflicts globally has reached the highest level since World War II, disrupting international trade, investment, and commerce, and leading to disputes subject to international arbitration. Investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) increasingly involves wartime expropriation, asset destruction, state contract breaches, and emergency measures, raising issues related to protection and security standards, war clauses, national security, and the doctrine of necessity. This also raises questions about whether arbitral tribunals can consider the laws of war in ISDS cases. Armed conflict also affects international commercial arbitration, with concepts like force majeure, frustration, and coercion increasingly tested in cases involving business disruptions. Arbitrators also may be asked to address issues under the laws of war in commercial arbitrations. This keynote address examined the broader implications of armed conflict for ISDS and international commercial arbitration, including whether the threat of arbitration influences the likelihood of conflict or behaviour during conflict, and how tribunals balance investment protection and contract performance with the demands of war. Finally, it will consider the impact of armed conflict on the validity and enforceability of agreements and arbitral awards. In 2022, Suzanne Spears founded Paxus LLP, a London-based boutique specialising in public international law, arbitration, and business and human rights. She has over 20 years’ experience in London and New York, including as a partner at Allen & Overy (now A&O Shearman), where she led the Business and Human Rights practice. Her earlier roles include work with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia, the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights, and the Council on Foreign Relations, focusing on multinational corporations in conflict and peace processes. Suzanne now acts as counsel, arbitrator, and CEDR-accredited mediator, advising on disputes linked to armed conflict, coups, and threats to foreign investments. She also teaches International Arbitration at the University of Notre Dame (London campus). Her recent publications include Financing a Just Transition Based on Respect for Human Rights (Paxus LLP, 2025) and a chapter on reconciling human rights and investor rights in Investment Arbitration and Climate Change (Kluwer, 2024).