The Amsterdam Law School is offering a position for a Postdoctoral researcher in the ERC-funded project ‘Transnational Private-Public Arbitration as Global Regulatory Governance: Charting and Codifying the Lex Mercatoria Publica’, coordinated by Prof. Stephan Schill. The ERC-Project in question analyses the rising phenomenon of transnational arbitrations between private economic actors and public law bodies (based both on investment treaties and contracts between private and public actors) as a mechanism of global regulatory governance. Its aim is to uncover to which extent and under which conditions arbitrators generate the rules governing public-private relations rather independently of specific domestic legal systems and their democratic processes, and thereby prospectively steer and restrict government conduct. The body of law crafted by arbitral tribunals is what the Project designates as “lex mercatoria publica”. During its first phase the project has explored the conditions under which different domestic legal systems permit private-public arbitrations in order to assess whether general principles of law governing private-public arbitration can be distilled. In the next step, for which the post-doc researcher will be employed, the project will engage in empirical research into the practice of arbitral tribunals deciding private-public arbitrations, in particular contract-based disputes. The postdocs tasks will involve research into published and the collection of unpublished decisions and awards of arbitral tribunals in public-private arbitrations. This research is intended to be done in close interaction with major arbitration institutions, international law firms engaged in private-public arbitrations, and international arbitrators sitting in these cases. Research stays and travel abroad may be necessary for this purpose. A central question will also be whether arbitral practice develops in the context of a worldwide frame of reference, or whether regional practices dominate. The practice of private-public arbitrations that is uncovered during this stage of the research will be the basis for getting a clearer picture of the principles and rules forming part of the lex mercatoria publica.

The postdoctoral researcher is expected to undertake research independently and work towards the publication of a research monograph or several publications in leading international journals. The researcher will benefit from committed research supervision by the project leader as well as interaction with other researchers in the lively and supportive intellectual environment of ACIL, a centre of excellence at the University of Amsterdam’s Law Faculty, which has since long enjoyed a strong, international reputation for critical innovation in legal research.

The researcher:

• has completed a PhD degree at the start of the employment;
• has demonstrable research interest in international arbitration, both commercial and treaty-bases, and its theory;
• will, ideally, also have knowledge of (comparative) administrative and constitutional law in respect of private-public arbitration;
• has an xcellent command of English (written and spoken);
• has an interest in cross-disciplinary research and ability to work in a team.

The postdoctoral researcher’s appointment will be for the period of one year. The appointment can commence as soon as possible, but no later than 1 March 2018. The gross full-time monthly salary will be in accordance with the salary scales for postdoctoral researchers at Dutch universities, scales 10 and 11, ranging from €2,588 up to €4,757. Secondary benefits at Dutch universities are attractive and include 8% holiday pay and an 8.3% end of year bonus. The Collective Labour Agreement (cao) for Dutch Universities is applicable.

University of Amsterdam

With over 5,000 employees, 30,000 students and a budget of more than 600 million euros, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is an intellectual hub within the Netherlands. Teaching and research at the UvA are conducted within seven faculties: Humanities, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Economics and Business, Law, Science, Medicine and Dentistry. Housed on four city campuses in or near the heart of Amsterdam, where disciplines come together and interact, the faculties have close links with thousands of researchers and hundreds of institutions at home and abroad.  

The UvA’s students and employees are independent thinkers, competent rebels who dare to question dogmas and aren’t satisfied with easy answers and standard solutions. To work at the UvA is to work in an independent, creative, innovative and international climate characterised by an open atmosphere and a genuine engagement with the city of Amsterdam and society.

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Amsterdam Law School

The Amsterdam Law School is strongly engaged in society and has an international orientation, which is reflected in its research and education activities. The Law School offers three Bachelor's programmes and a number of Master's programmes, two of which are taught exclusively in English (i.e. International and European Law and European Private Law). With its 3,500 students and 375 staff members, it is one of the largest law faculties in the Netherlands. The Law School is located in the centre of Amsterdam.

The ERC-funded project ‘Transnational Private-Public Arbitration as Global Regulatory Governance: Charting and Codifying the Lex Mercatoria Publica’ is conducted within the framework of the Amsterdam Center for International Law (ACIL), one of the centres of excellence of the University of Amsterdam. ACIL aims to promote high-quality research and education on public international law. Its research programme focuses on development and application of international law and its interaction with national legal orders.

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