Alternative Dispute Resolution in the Western Balkans : Trends and Challenges

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is increasingly recognized as an attractive alternative to national court proceedings, especially in international business relations. This open access book focuses on ADR mechanisms in one specific geographical region: the Western Balkans. This region comprises Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo, and Serbia. Although these countries generally have legal frameworks for ADR mechanisms in place, they remain largely underutilised in practice. Promoting ADR mechanisms in the countries of the Western Balkans could make them more attractive to foreign investors, thereby fostering economic growth. Additionally, the effective implementation of ADR mechanisms could have spill-over effects on national judiciaries, thereby increasing domestic rule of law standards. This would be highly beneficial for the Western Balkan countries, most of which are still aspiring to become Member States of the European Union (EU). To achieve this, they are required to promote the use of ADR mechanisms and align their legal frameworks with EU standards.

Against this background, this book aims to explore the trends and challenges of ADR in the Western Balkans. The different chapters primarily focus on international commercial arbitration, investment treaty arbitration, and mediation. Some chapters address systemic challenges, such as capacity building and dispute prevention, which extend to the entire region. Others offer country-specific analyses of particular national framework. While some chapters adopt the perspective of international or EU law, others remain at the national level. Collectively, the wide diversity in topics and perspectives provides a comprehensive overview of the trends and challenges of ADR mechanisms in the Western Balkan.

Prof. Marc Bungenberg is Director of the Europa-Institut and a professor of public law, European law, public international law and international economic law at Saarland University/Germany as well as permanent visiting professor at the University of Lausanne/Switzerland. His main fields of research are European law (common commercial policy, public procurement and state aid law) and international economic law, particularly international investment and WTO law, including trade remedies.

Prof. Goran Koevski is a professor of Commercial Law at the ‘Ss. Cyril and Methodius’ University in Skopje, North Macedonia since 2000. He is currently Head of the LL.M. and Ph.D. Programs in Business Law at the ‘Iustinianus Primus’ Faculty of Law. His main fields of research are International Business Transactions, Company Law, Bankruptcy Law, and Competition Law. He is the President of the Macedonian Lawyers Association. He serves as a National Coordinator at the International Distribution Institute – IDI Project, Torino. He is a permanent member of the Government expert’s team for drafting the Macedonian Civil Code in the part of the business transactions.

Bianca Böhme is a research associate and doctoral candidate at the Europa-Institut of Saarland University, Germany. Her research interests lie in particular in International Arbitration and International Investment Law. She holds an LL.M. degree in International Law, Investment, Trade, and Arbitration from the University of Heidelberg/Universidad de Chile and an LL.M. degree in European and International Law from the Europa-Institut in Saarbrücken, Germany.

Dr. Ljuben Kocev is an assistant professor at the Department of International Trade at the Faculty of Economics – Skopje, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje. He teaches Commercial Law and International Commercial Law. His main research fields are Commercial Law, Competition Law, and International Arbitration.

Dr. Mareike Fröhlich is a research associate at the Europa-Institut of Saarland University and spezialized in European and International Economic Law. She studied law at the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn graduated in 2005. She holds a LL.M. in European and International Law of the Europa-Institut of Saarland University. She did her legal clerkship at the Land Rheinland-Pfalz and is a fully qualified lawyer. In 2021, she defended her doctoral thesis at Saarland University in the field of European and International Competition Law. Her main fields of research and teaching are European and International Economic Law as well as EU External Relations. She coordinates as a research associate several European and international projects. 

Dr. Neda Zdraveva is a Professor at the ‘Iustinianus Primus’ Faculty of Law at the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University. She is one of the teaching staff of the subjects in the field of Law on Obligations (Contract Law, Tort Law, Consumer Law) and Intellectual Property Law of the law studies. Dr. Zdraveva is also Director/Secretary General of the Centre for South East European Law School Network (SEELS) and Editor-In-Chief of the SEE Law Journal. Prof. Dr. Neda Zdraveva is one of the co-editors of Springer’s Series “European Union and its Neighbours in a Globalized World”.