From Canadian Minister to International Arbitrator: The Oral History of Marc Lalonde

Abstract

“Arbitrators as a group”, Stephan Schill explains, “are the key institution for the emergence, persistence, transformation, and hence existence, of international arbitration as a system.” The recent debate about the role, values, and legitimacy of international arbitrators, whether in dealing with commercial or investment disputes, shows that they are “central” to the international legal system. Yet, in the exceptionally dense body of literature that studies international arbitration, few academic contributions have given a ‘first-person’ voice to international arbitrators themselves, which has restricted their opportunity to tell their side of the story and to share their firsthand experience in this field. To begin filling this gap in the literature, this essay presents the recollections of an international arbitrator from the “first generation”: the Honourable Marc Lalonde. Mr. Lalonde is an ideal candidate for such a project because, after a notable career in Canadian politics, he came into the field of international arbitration in the 1980s, as it was still emerging. His perspective is also particularly interesting, since he is one of the very few who sustained a long and successful career in various types of international arbitrations, and presided over commercial, public international law, and investment disputes. The different parts of this essay present, loosely following a chronological order, a specific field of international arbitration in which Marc Lalonde evolved. In Part II, the path that he took to become an international commercial arbitrator is exposed. In Parts III and IV are considered his career as public law adjudicator and as international investment arbitrator, respectively. Finally, the essay concludes with an appraisal of Mr. Lalonde’s life in the international legal field.

Keywords: International adjudication; oral history; sociology of law