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T
he announcement of Brexit in June 2016 has raised significant questions about the impact
of Britain’s departure from the EU on some of the more valuable sectors of its economy.
The UK legal service sector’s contribution to the UK economy reached a record £25.7b in
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2015, and accounts for around 10% of the global market for legal services, second only to the
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US”, so it is unsurprising that many stakeholders who are invested in the success of this sector
have spent their time researching and predicting an outcome for their respective practice areas
once the dust from Brexit begins to settle. This article will focus on dispute practitioner
predictions of the impact of Brexit on the UK’s treasured arbitration seat, with an insight into its

repercussions on; enforcing arbitral awards in European jurisdictions, inbound claimants coming
to the UK to settle their disputes, EU competition arbitration and jurisdiction allocation in
contracts. We will also provide some analysis into the UK’s decision to leave the jurisdiction of
the EU, how that will affect investor-state disputes, and the possible resolutions to this potential
vacuum in international public law.

Overall, there appears to be a sense of optimism from EU Competition Arbitration – Will these disputes still be
arbitration professionals throughout the UK regarding the settled here?
impact of Brexit on their practice. Jan-Jaap of Travers
Smith has stated “The attraction of using English courts to The purpose of competition law is to ensure markets
resolve international disputes should generally be remain competitive, and that competition is not distorted
unaltered by Brexit” 85 and lawyers at Norton Rose to the detriment of consumers, and/or businesses and
Fulbright even believe that “international parties engaged the public interest. In practical terms, this sees law firms
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in arbitral proceedings may find that the comparative advising their clients on the thresholds of market control
weakness of the pound sterling makes London a less when considering mergers and acquisitions, it also
expensive place to arbitrate disputes”, 86 further ensures that those with dominant market positions are
suggesting that as a result of this, Brexit may “spark a rise not price fixing or attempting to control production. As
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in London-seated arbitrations”. Higher up the ladder the a member of the EU, the UK’s Competition Law Act 1998
former Lord Chief Justice, Lord Thomas, has stated that (CLA 1998) is currently modelled around the EU
“arbitration in the UK will not be affected by Brexit in any competition laws, which give effect to arts 101 and 102
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way”. 87 However, whilst the overall outlook of the of the TFEU. The increase in the volume and complexity
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arbitration sector post-Brexit is fairly up-beat, there is of disputes has given rise to a greater demand for these
some uncertainty as to its impact on specific practice disputes to be settled through arbitration, and arbitration
areas, enforcement and jurisdiction allocation. The is particularly attractive to parties involved in a dispute
remainder of this article will delve into these areas to because of the experience, knowledge, flexibility and
provide clarity, where possible, on a subject that privacy afforded in the arbitral process. In the EU there
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continues to develop during negotiations in Brussels. is “no leading case on whether EU competition law cases
can be arbitrated. Instead there has been development of

83 https://www.thecityuk.com/research/uk-legal-services-2016-report/
84 https://www.thecityuk.com/research/uk-legal-services-2016-report/ paragraph 3
85 https://www.traverssmith.com/news-publications/brexit/brexit-by-topic/brexit-disputes/
86 http://www.nortonrosefulbright.com/knowledge/publications/142441/how-will-brexit-impact-arbitration-in-england-and-wales para 17-18
87 http://www.thomascooperlaw.com/uk-arbitration-dispute-resolution-stand-strong-face-brexit/ paragraph 1
88 Konkurrensverket v TeliaSonera Sverige AB (C-52/09) EU:C:2011:83; [2011] 4 C.M.L.R. 18 at [22].
89 Article 101(a) and (b) of the TFEU.
90 David Mwoni Ndolo and Dr Margaret Liu, “Is this the end? The effect of Brexit on the arbitration of EU competition laws in the UK”, European Competition Law Review,
2017. Para 2
91 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:12008E101:EN:HTML
92 David Mwoni Ndolo and Dr Margaret Liu, “Is this the end? The effect of Brexit on the arbitration of EU competition laws in the UK”, European Competition Law Review,
2017. Paragraph 9.