On Monday, June 18, the Keio University Law School concluded an agreement on promoting international arbitration and fostering international arbitrators with the Japan Association of Arbitrators at Mita Campus. At the signing ceremony, which was attended by various interested parties in this field, Professor Isao Kitai, dean of the Keio University Law School, and Akira Kawamura, president of the Japan Association of Arbitrators, put their signatures to the agreement.
Keio University Law School instituted the LL.M. in Global Legal Practice to allow students to study international law in English in order to foster legal personnel capable of being active on the global stage in April 2017. Since then, they have hosted 30 students with rich international backgrounds from Japan and overseas annually. These have included legal practitioners, such as lawyers. Added to this since April, they have begun to award certificates to students who have focused their studies on International Dispute Resolution and to promote ties with institutions and actors in the field of arbitration in Japan and overseas. This cooperative partnership with the Japan Association of Arbitrators is foremost among such endeavors, which are intended to remain in step with the public and private sectors who are aiming to create the infrastructure needed to activate national commitments to "judicial diplomacy" with a particular emphasis on international arbitration and to spearhead the globalization of personnel fostering.
The incentive for the conclusion of the current agreement was the planned establishment in Tokyo next year of the International Dispute Resolution Center (provisional name). The necessity to consolidate research and education in the field of dispute resolution centered on international arbitration and to foster arbitration lawyers and experts were both mentioned at the signing ceremony. Following the signing of this agreement, the Keio University Law School and the Japan Association of Arbitrators will cultivate ties towards the promotion of an international dispute resolution system on the dual fronts of research and education.