The Union Internationale des Avocats organized its 55th Congress in Miami from October 31 to November 4, attended by 950 lawyers coming from 81 countries. In this context, the Bureaus of the Litigation and Arbitration Commissions of the UIA interested by the OHADAC's initiative to establish a Court of Arbitration for the Caribbean invited us to a forum during a joint session chaired by Peter Turner (Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Paris) and Mark C. Hilgard (Mayer Brown LLP, Frankfurt). Panel 1

• Tests applied by state courts regarding applications for interim measures: common law and civil law approaches
• Tests applied by arbitral tribunals in applications for interim measures
• Emergency arbitrators (eg SIAC, ICC, SCC, ICDR, ACICA, LCIA Art 9)

Panel 2

• Courts or tribunals?
• when is a party is permitted to apply to a court for interim measures where there is an agreement to arbitrate between the parties in relation to the relevant dispute?
• applications to a court for interim measures in a country other than the jurisdiction of the seat
• where there is a choice, perspectives of a litigator and an arbitration specialist as to when it is more advantageous to apply to a court for a particular form of interim measure and when it is preferable to seek the relevant measure from an arbitral tribunal
• Recognition and enforcement by state courts of orders/awards of arbitral tribunals granting interim measures
• Recognition and enforcement by arbitral tribunals of court orders granting interim measures
• Issues such as whether or not an arbitral tribunal can seek to cancel or vary the terms of a court order for interim measures or order penalties (an "astreinte") / damages for non-compliance

Nancy M. Thevenin, special counsel, global coordinator of Baker & McKenzie's International Arbitration Practice Group, and a recognized expert in arbitration from the Caribbean, introduced: “The OHADAC, who, what, why, how, where, & when?” and our vision of the future OHADAC Court of Arbitration, a neighborhood-oriented, small and medium enterprise-dedicated institution, and outlined the steps to be taken to achieve this objective. For more information about the conference: http://congres.uianet.org/en/miami2011/ Contact: jean.reale@acplegal.net