The Lingua Franca of International Arbitration? - 40 Years of UNCITRAL Model Law

Report on the international arbitration conference held on 24 February 2026

Abstract

Conference report

On February 24, 2026, the Faculty of Law and Political Science at Pázmány Péter Catholic University (PPKE-JÁK), the Hungarian Arbitration Association (MVbE), and the Permanent Arbitration Court operating under the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MKIK VB) in the Pope John Paul II Auditorium of the University. The event was linked to the Budapest Arbitration Days, held for the first time on February 23–24, 2026, and the conference was organized in cooperation with the Department of Private International Law at PPKE-JÁK. The occasion for the event was the adoption by UNCITRAL in 1985 of its Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration[1] (“Model Law”), which has since become one of the most influential benchmarks in international arbitration. The aim of the conference was to examine, from an international perspective, the impact and current significance of the 40-year-old Model Law, as well as certain central issues in arbitration. Conference participants were welcomed by Dean László Komáromi, followed by an opening address by Professor George A. Bermann (Columbia University, Director, Center for International Commercial and Investment Arbitration). This was followed by presentations in three panels on recent and ongoing legal reforms in European countries of key importance from the perspective of arbitration, the enforcement of arbitration agreements, and the review of arbitral awards by state courts. The conference concluded with closing remarks by Attila Berzeviczi, Chairman of the MKIK Executive Board. The purpose of this article is to summarize the presentations delivered at the conference.