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For more than two decades, Ms. Niuscha Bassiri has acted as arbitrator and counsel in numerous international arbitrations under the major arbitral institutions and arbitration rules (CEPANI, DIFC-LCIA, DIS, ICC, LCIA, NAI, PCA, Swiss Rules, SCC, SIAC, UNCITRAL, VIAC) governed by various procedural and substantive laws, including ad hoc.
Ms. Bassiri’s compulsory training as a District Court and voluntary training as a Court of Appeal judge during her traineeship in Germany gives her relevant insight into the judicial approach. In the past, Ms. Bassiri appeared as part of the counsel team representing sovereign states in setting aside, revocation and enforcement proceedings. As a mediator, Ms. Bassiri has successfully concluded an ICC mediation in an international post-M&A matter.
Ms. Bassiri is a member of the faculty of the Geneva LLM in International Dispute Settlement (MIDS) program and the University of Miami White & Case International Arbitration LLM program, and was a Visiting Senior Fellow at the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law. For 12 years, she co-lectured in the master’s program of the ICHEC Business and Management School in Brussels on International Commercial Law and Dispute Resolution. She delivered lectures at the ICC’s ePIDA Training on International Commercial Arbitration in 2020. Since 2020, Niuscha has been a faculty member of the CIArb’s Virtual Diploma on International Commercial Arbitration program. In 2023-2024, she is sharing her expertise as the Co-Chair and faculty member of the ICC Advanced Arbitration Academy for Eastern Europe. Niuscha is also the Chair and faculty member of the Delos Dispute Resolution’s Writing Awards Course. As a member of the ICC Task Force Addressing Issues of Corruption in International Arbitration, she is a Co-coordinator of one of the tracks, focusing on the use of AI for detecting red flags and other indicia.
Ms. Bassiri regularly speaks at leading conferences and seminars on international arbitration. She publishes widely on topics such as efficiency in investment arbitration, EU consumer law and arbitration, enforcement of awards rendered in ODR, default arbitration proceedings, institutional rules’ nationality requirements, arbitrators and their online identity on social media and settlement facilitation in arbitrations (forthcoming). Ms. Bassiri is the co-editor and author of various landmark books, amongst them International Arbitration and the COVID-19 Revolution, as well as Arbitration in Belgium, the sole English-language commentary on the Belgian arbitration law. Ms. Bassiri is also a co-author in the leading German language commentary on the ICC and DIS Rules, now on its second edition. She has led the task force on the Young ICCA Guide on Arbitral Secretaries and translated from English into German ICCA’s Guide to the Interpretation of the 1958 New York Convention.
Niuscha is listed in various panels and lists of arbitrators, including the Abu Dhabi International Arbitration Centre, ASA (Swiss Arbitration Association), BVI International Arbitration Centre, CEPANI (Belgian Center for Arbitration and Mediation), DIS (German Arbitration Institute), Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), India International Arbitration Centre, LCIA (London Court of International Arbitration), NAI (Netherlands Arbitration Institute), SIAC (Singapore International Arbitration Centre), and in many arbitration directories.
The arbitrations and mediations in which Ms. Bassiri has been involved concern state entities and private entities alike, spanning a multitude of sectors such as banking, construction (FIDIC and MDB), energy, entertainment, finance, food and beverage, highways, infrastructure, insurance, luxury and leisure, maritime equipment, metallurgical industry, mining, nuclear power plants, oil & gas, pharmaceuticals, railways, real estate, satellites, solar power plants, steel, telecommunications, third-party funding, transportation, watches, wind parks and yachts and relating to diverse legal issues including corruption, distributorship, investment, joint ventures, licensing, patents, post-M&A, sales of goods and shareholdings.
Ms. Bassiri’s matters have been conducted at various seats, governed by a variety of substantive and procedural laws (including those of Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, England and Wales, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Iran, Jersey, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE and Zimbabwe).
Ms. Bassiri has received many professional accolades, recognising her as one of the best in international arbitration, including in Who’s Who Legal—Arbitration, Who’s Who Legal—Thought Leaders, Legal500 Arbitration Powerlist, Expert Guides Women in Business Law—Arbitration, and GAR100, among others. Already in 2016, she was ranked in the top 20 practitioners worldwide by WWL: Future Leaders – Arbitration, described by peers and clients as an “extremely sharp arbitrator and counsel”, who also praised her “clever and sophisticated advocacy”. Since 2018, Who’s Who Legal—Arbitration has acknowledged Ms. Bassiri as a Thought Leader and Global Leader. Over the years, peers and clients commented on her being “super-organised and insightful”, as well as “extremely knowledgeable in investment arbitration”.
Over the years, the arbitration community has acknowledged Ms. Bassiri as an “elegant and skillful arbitrator” who has deep “experience in international commercial arbitration and construction” disputes and is an “excellent arbitrator; top speaker and extremely knowledgeable in investment arbitration”. Ms. Bassiri continues to be “[h]ighly recommended for her leading investment and commercial arbitration expertise” and has been described as a “very smart and hard-working lawyer” and a “brilliant arbitrator”, who is “sharp, quick and attentive to details”, “has an abundance of hands-on experience” and “excellent experience in investment arbitration and energy-related disputes”. Who’s Who Legal—Arbitration 2024 states that “Niuscha is able to handles tricky situations as arbitrator with finesse and sound judgment” and that she is “very experienced in investment arbitration”. Observers of her work also state that “her skills as an arbitrator are so polished she shines.”
Cologne, Brussels (E-List)
German, Iranian
+32 475 78 31 35
Avenue Louise 523, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
"Extremely sharp arbitrator and counsel"
"Elegant and skillful arbitrator"
"[h]ighly recommended for her leading
investment and commercial arbitration expertise"
"brilliant arbitrator"
"excellent experience in investment
arbitration and energy-related disputes“
"handles tricky situations as arbitrator
with finesse and sound judgment"
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