Reflections on the 2025 International Arbitration Lecture: The Enduring Role of the Human Arbitrator and the New Opportunity for Science
In 1983, Mustill J described arbitration as a process shaped not only by law and fact, but by human judgement. That insight remains as relevant today as ever.
At the 2025 Akin Arbitration Lecture, delivered at Akin’s London office, Klaus Reichert SC, distinguished arbitrator and co-founder of Arbitration Sciences Ltd, explored the enduring role of the arbitrator’s human faculties—judgement, intuition and experience—and how emerging behavioural science is transforming our understanding of decision-making in arbitration.
In a timely reflection, Klaus examined what it means to act as a decision-maker in an era when technology and artificial intelligence (AI) dominate professional conversations. His lecture highlighted how, despite rapid advances in technology, arbitration remains a deeply human process shaped by cognition, emotion and experience.
This year’s lecture continued Akin’s tradition of convening leading speakers to explore the issues shaping the future of international arbitration—combining deep legal insight with broader perspectives from science, psychology and technology.
Watch the full lecture below:
