News & Events
Presentation on CAfA at the Heidelberger Kunstrechtstage
On 15 October 2022, during the 16th edition of the Kunstrechtstage in Heidelberg, Prof. Dr. Bert Demarsin (the President of CAfA) gave a speech titled “The CAfA: pros and cons of an international arbitration institution for the art business”. Prof. Demarsin explained the basic principles, regulations and institutional structure of CAfA and the power of its rulings. After presenting the advantages as well as the disadvantages of an international arbitration institution for the art business, he explained the great potential of CAfA. The lecture from Prof. Demarsin was well received and spurred an active audience engagement with thoughtful questions and points of interest.
Webinar on CAfA for Christie’s Education alumni
On 27 May 2022, Prof. Dr. Bert Demarsin (the President of CAfA) and Camilla Perera-de Wit (Board Member of CAfA) gave a presentation on alternative dispute resolution and art as part of the Christie’s Education Alumni Webinar Series. The presentation was held at the suggestion of Ana Horta (Modern Art & Art Law student at Christie’s Education and Executive Officer of CAfA).
Presentation on CAfA for the First Ladies of Law in Rome
On 13 May 2022, at Villa Borghese in Rome, CAfA Board Member Camilla Perera - De Wit spoke about arbitration and art at the invitation of the First Ladies of Law as part of the Academie voor de Rechtspraktijk. She discussed the role and scope of CAfA as well as issues encountered in resolving art disputes, including the importance of the role of qualified (technical) experts in conducting forensic science or provenance research for an art object and qualified adjudicators in resolving the dispute timely and cost efficiently.
CAfA Newsletter Spring/Summer 2022
For an update on the latest developments at CAfA, please find our Spring/Summer 2022 newsletter here: [PDF].
CAfA and University of Bonn Webinar on Settling Art Disputes by Alternative Dispute Resolution
On 22 September 2021, CAfA organised a webinar in cooperation with Professor Matthias Weller of the University of Bonn. During this webinar, our distinguished panellists, including CAfA Board Member William Charron and CAfA Arbitrator Katharina Garbers-von Boehm, discussed the future and challenges of settling art disputes in Germany and worldwide. The administration of justice in art-related disputes can be challenging in our times: the art market is opaque; the transactions are complex; field expertise is required, in particular when it comes to disputes involving Nazi-looted art. In this roundtable, we addressed these issues and discussed the difficulties of litigating art disputes in national courts or pursuing claims of Nazi-looted art before national Restitution Committees such as the German “Beratende Kommission”, the expertise required to determine the authenticity of an artwork, and how to increase the market acceptability of the outcome of art disputes. Furthermore, our panellists discussed future prospects and challenges of settling art disputes via Alternative Dispute Resolution. In this context, we spoke about the offer CAfA as a specialized institution for art dispute resolution can make.
Webinar on Mediation of Art Disputes at CAfA
On 6 July 2021, CAfA organized a webinar on the mediation of art disputes. What opportunities and benefits does mediation have for art disputes? What are the significant distinctions between arbitration/litigation and mediation? What can parties expect from the mediation process? At the intersection of art and dispute resolution, our three distinguished panellists: Bill Marsh, Paul Eric Mason and Christopher To, presented their perspectives on these and other issues.
Recording
The recording of the Court of Arbitration for Art’s webinar on The Role of Expert Witnesses in Art Disputes (see the invitation below) is now available:
For more information visit the CAfA Pool of Experts (including a list of experts and a link to the application form).
Invitation
The Court of Arbitration for Art (CAfA) cordially invites you to register for CAfA’s webinar on:
THE ROLE OF EXPERT WITNESSES IN ART DISPUTES
25 February 2021 – 2:00 - 4:00 PM CET (Zoom)
Join leading art lawyers and art experts from around the world for an interactive discussion on the role of expert witnesses in art disputes. What is the function of expert witnesses in different legal systems? What types of expert evidence are required in art disputes (scientific evidence vs connoisseurship)? What are the challenges faced by expert witnesses and what are the challenges for the judge or arbitrator in weighing up expert evidence? These and other topics at the intersection of art and law will be discussed by our panellists, including colourful examples from their own experience.
Panel
Andrew Onslow, Queen’s Counsel (senior barrister) at 3VB, London
Angell Xi, Partner at Jingtian & Gongcheng, Shanghai
Richard Spear, Specialist in Italian baroque art and expert witness, Washington D.C.
Sharon Hecker, Art historian and curator, Milan
Anna Bennett, Conservator and expert witness, London
Moderator
Martin Wilson, Chief General Counsel at Phillips Auctioneers, London
Registration
Register for this free event via Zoom.
Invitation
The Court of Arbitration for Art (CAfA) cordially invites you to register for CAfA’s inaugural webinar on:
DISPUTE RESOLUTION IN THE ART WORLD
19 November 2020 – 1:00 – 2:15 PM CET (Zoom)
Join leading alternative dispute resolution and art law experts from around the world for an interactive discussion on dispute resolution in the art world. What are the difficulties of litigating art disputes in national courts? What expertise is required to determine the authenticity of an artwork? How can the market acceptability of the outcome of art disputes be increased? These and other topics at the intersection of art and law will be discussed by our panelists, including colorful examples from their practices.
Panel
Jean-François Canat, Founding partner at UGGC Avocats, Paris
Yu-Jin Tay, Partner at Mayer Brown, Singapore
Judith Wallace, Managing partner at Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP, New York
Martin Wilson, Chief General Counsel at Phillips Auctioneers, London
Moderator
Camilla Perera-De Wit, Secretary General and Director General at the Netherlands Arbitration Institute; board member of CAfA
Registration
Register for this free event via Zoom.