Arbitration Chambers

Independent International Arbitrator

Neil Kaplan CBE KC SBS has been a full-time practising arbitrator since 1995.  During this period, he has been involved in several hundred arbitrations as co-arbitrator, sole arbitrator or chairman.  These arbitrations have included a wide range of commercial, infrastructure and investment disputes, under the auspices of the ICC, HKIAC, LCIA, PCA, SIAC, SCC, ICSID and CIETAC. Mr Kaplan’s investment treaty cases under ICSID and UNCITRAL both as presiding arbitrator and co-arbitrator have involved Timor-Leste, Hungary, Croatia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Ecuador, Iran, India, Ukraine, Russia, Korea and Saudi Arabia.

Called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1965, Mr Kaplan has practiced as a barrister, Principal Crown Counsel at the Hong Kong Attorney General’s Chambers, and served as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong in charge of the Construction and Arbitration List. He became a Queen’s Counsel (now King’s Counsel) in 1982 and was a founder and first head of Des Voeux Chambers in Hong Kong.

From 1991 to 2004, he was Chairman of the HKIAC, and in 1999 – 2000, he was President of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.  Since 1995, he has been a Council Member and now Governing Board Member of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration, and in 2012 he became a Member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration. He is a Chartered Arbitrator and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, the Hong Kong Institute of Arbitrators, and the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators. He is a panelist of several other arbitral institutions, including CIETAC.

Since 2017, Mr Kaplan has been the president of the Court of the Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry Arbitration and Mediation Centre. In 2020, he was appointed first president of Delos Dispute Resolution's board of advisers. In 2022 Neil was appointed as a Deputy President of the Bahrain Court of Cassation.

In addition to conducting arbitrations in England and Hong Kong, Mr Kaplan has conducted arbitrations in the USA, France, Germany, Croatia, Netherlands, Malaysia, Australia, Denmark, Sweden, Indonesia, South Africa, Norway, Philippines, China, Lao, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, and Japan.

Mr Kaplan is the author of numerous articles, speeches, and books on international arbitration. A non-exhaustive list can be found, along with other resources and a more detailed CV, at www.neil-kaplan.com.