Homayoon Arfazadeh

Dr. iur., LL.M. (NYU)

LanguagesFrench, English, Persian
Entity and Address

Python | Avocats
Geneva, Rue Charles-Bonnet 2

Bar Admission

New-York Bar (2002)
Geneva Bar (1995)

Profile

Dr. Arfazadeh currently leads PYTHON’s arbitration practice with 33 years of experience in international arbitration and has been involved in more than a 125 cases in Geneva, Paris, New York, the Middle and Far East. He is admitted to Swiss and NY bars, is a member of the ICC arbitration commission and ICC’s Swiss National Committee and its Appointment Committee, is a former member of the international Court of Arbitration of the Swiss Arbitration Centre (2016-2022), and has acted as arbitrator under various institutional rules. He has published extensively and has been a visiting lecturer at the Geneva Institute of International Studies and a scholar at the NY University. He also represents clients in complex cross-border criminal, bankruptcy and compliance cases in Switzerland and in New York, and regularly assists clients in M&A, joint-venture and IT negotiations.

Education

Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva (Ph.D., 2004)
New York University School of Law, New York (LL.M., 2001)
Swiss National Research Fund (FNRS), Bern (Fellow, Young Scholar, 1990-1991)
University of Geneva School of Law (Lic. iur., 1987)

Positions Held

Lawyer with PYTHON since 1993
Member of the Court of International Arbitration of the Swiss Arbitration Centre since 2016
Member of the Swiss National committee of the ICC for arbitration since 2008
Lecturer, Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva, Switzerland Law, Development & Globalization, 2007-2008
Rapporteur: International conference on “Managing Commercial Dispute Resolution Centres”, Chamonix, 17-19 May 2006
Drafter of Model Law on “National Export Councils”, May-September 2004
Member of Drafting Committee on Model contracts on international Joint Ventures and international Sale of goods, 1999-2003
Visiting Scholar, New York University School of Law, New York, NY International Justice and Moral Philosophy, 2001-2002
Member of the ICC Arbitration Commission since 2008
Legal Counsel, Regional Center for Arbitration, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Of Counsel, 1991 and 1995
Consultant, rapporteur and drafter: WTO/UNCTAD International Trade Centre, Geneva, Switzerland, 1999 to 2006
Lecturer and Assistant, University of Geneva School of Law, Geneva, Switzerland, 1987-1992
Internships and Short Assignments: Iran-US Claims Tribunal, The Hague, Netherlands, September-December 1990
Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee, New Delhi, India, January-March 1991
Internship at the ICC Court of International Arbitration, Paris, France, April-July 1991

Memberships

List of International Arbitrators of major international arbitration institutions
Geneva and Swiss Bar Associations
New York Bar Association
Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA)
Comité Français de l’Arbitrage (CFA)
London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA)

Selected Publications

Ordre public et arbitrage international à l’épreuve de la mondialisation. Une théorie critique des sources du droit des relations transnationales, Schulthess-Zurich, LGDJ-Paris, Bruylant-Bruxelles, 2005, 351 pages. Second Edition appeared in December 2006

A Practitioner’s Approach to Interest Claims under Sharia law in International Arbitration, in Interest, Auxiliary and Alternative Remedies in International Arbitration, Ed. Filip De Ly and Laurent Levy, Dossier of the ICC Institute of World Business Law, 2008, pp. 211 ff

In the shadow of the “”unruly horse””: International Arbitration of the Public Policy Exception, in American review of international arbitration, 2004 special edition, 50th anniversary of the Institute of Judicial Administration of New York University, pp.43 ff Iran: la Médiation Européenne ou le Dangereux Engrenage, Le Temps, 5 mai 2006, p. 1 et 17

Draft Model Enactment (Model Law) on National Export Council, including article by article commentary and recommendations concerning by-laws, International Trade Centre, WTO/UNCTAD Executive Forum, Montreux, September 2004

Israel’s Best Bet: True Justice or International Law?, RSDIE 2002, no. 4, pp. 479 ff Considérations pragmatiques sur la compétence respective de l’Arbitre et du Juge en matière de contrats de corruption, Bulletin ASA 2001, no. 4, pp. 672 ff

Arbitrability under the 1958 New York Convention: the lex fori revisited, Journal of the London Court of International Arbitration, Vol. 17, no. 1, 2001, pp. 73 ff

Actionnariat responsable et état de droit international, in: Ateliers pour la pratique du droit international public et du droit international humanitaire, Institut Henri Dunant, Genève, Audio, éd. Bibliothèque publique d’information, Centre Pompidou, Paris, 1998 Juge d’appui et for de nécessité, Bulletin ASA 1996, no.2, pp. 325 ff. Costs under UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules and their Adaptation to an Institutional Setting, in: ASA Conference Papers, Zurich 1997

Costs under UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules and their Adaptation to an institutional Setting, in Swiss Arbitration Association Conference Papers, Zurich, Jan. 1997 L’ordre public du fond et l’annulation de sentences arbitrales internationales en Suisse, RSDIE 1995, pp. 245 ff

Settlement of international trade disputes in South East Asia: The experience of the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration, The Malaysian law Journal cxxii, Singapore 1992

New perspective in South East Asia and Delocalised Arbitration in Kuala Lumpur, Journal of International Arbitration, Vol. 8, no. 4, p. 104, 1991

Rankings

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Cases

Acting as legal expert in the enforcement of Energy Charter Treaty Arbitral Award before US Federal court

Acting for contractor against Engineers in a major petrochemical dispute

Acting for the contractor in the largest Swiss construction law dispute under Swiss Arbitration Centre in relation to a land mark building in Switzerland (currently in process)

Acting as lead counsel in an arbitration over transport storage and sales of Petrochemical products

Acting as lead counsel in an arbitration between Telecom operators

Acted for Claimant in an automotive IP (intellectual property) and Share-Purchase Agreement dispute against Shanghai Automotive Industries Co. under ICC rules (currently in process)

Acting for claimant in a multi-billion dollar interstate Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) dispute over liquidation of a Joint Venture joint and shareholder agreement in the oil industry (currently in process)

Advising Respondent in a multi-billion Euros gas dispute

Successfully acting for the owner in a turnkey plant and technology transfer in a dispute under the ICC rules against a major industrial group and collecting the Award through attachment and enforcement proceedings

Successfully acting for a national oil company in a multi-billion dollar joint venture and shareholder dispute

Successfully acting for a national oil company in a 100 million dollar oil trading dispute

Successfully acting as co-counsel for claimants in a 17 billion dollar ICC dispute over the breakup of the worldwide network

Acting for an East European State in relation to proceedings under intra-European Bilateral Investment Treaty

Successfully acting on behalf of Claimant in America’s Cup Arbitration

Successfully acting for the owners in an industrial joint venture of steel, pipe and profile mills disputes

Acting as counsel in several disputes against Swiss banks

Successfully acting as defense lawyer before OFAC, US Treasury, DoJ, US Attorney General and Manhattan District Attorney involving a major European Bank Successfully acting for Claimant in an entertainment case before the Federal District Court of New York

Acting as defense counsel in Swiss criminal proceedings involving corruption, money landing and sanctions  

Sole arbitrator, co-arbitrator and chairman in various constructions, consulting and JV disputes

As well as a host of other international arbitrations over cross-border M&A disputes, petrochemical industry, sales-purchase contracts in crude oil, carbon, wheat, machinery … etc, agency, representation, sponsorship and distribution agreements