Professor William Park to Chair Arbitration in International Contract Dispute

R. Gordon Butler Scholar in International Law William Park has been called upon to chair arbitration in a case between the Indian government and the UK-based defense contractor AgustaWestland, a subsidiary of the Italian government-backed Finmeccanica.

The complaint concerns a contract established in 2010 for 12 helicopters to be provided to India’s Air Force for use by senior state officials. India’s Ministry of Defense froze payments on the contract in February 2013 after several Finmeccanica and AgustaWestland executives were accused of paying bribes to secure the deal. The Indian government chose to terminate the €560 million contract in January 2014, following the complaint filed by AgustaWestland.

Professor Park will chair the proceedings, in which AgustaWestland hopes to recover €228 million in bank guarantees paid to the Indian government. He was appointed by the International Chamber of Commerce’s International Court of Arbitration, an organization dedicated to the resolution of international disputes. The Indian government appointed BP Jeevan Reddy, a former Supreme Court judge, while AgustaWestland chose BN Srikrishna, former president of the High Court of the Indian State of Kerala.

An internationally recognized authority on international arbitration, Park serves as president of the London Court of International Arbitration and general editor of Arbitration International. He has previously served as arbitrator on the Claims Resolution Tribunal for Dormant Swiss Bank Accounts and the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims.